Analytic philosophers of mind define belief as, "the psychological state in which one accepts a premise or proposition to be true". This seems to be the best working definition of belief that I've heard.
Using that definition, everyone has beliefs, because everyone accepts some premises and propositions to be true.
That being said, there are good reasons to believe premises, and bad reasons.
The single best method we've come up with for determining whether a premise should be accepted as true, is by basing beliefs on demonstrable evidence, reasoned argument and valid/sound logic. Nothing else comes close.
Faith fails on every level. Faith is not a path to truth. It is indistinguishable from gullibility.
Using that definition, everyone has beliefs, because everyone accepts some premises and propositions to be true.
That being said, there are good reasons to believe premises, and bad reasons.
The single best method we've come up with for determining whether a premise should be accepted as true, is by basing beliefs on demonstrable evidence, reasoned argument and valid/sound logic. Nothing else comes close.
Faith fails on every level. Faith is not a path to truth. It is indistinguishable from gullibility.
You'd believe if you just opened your heart" is a terrible argument for religion. It's basically saying, "If you bias yourself enough, you can convince yourself that this is true." If religion were true, people wouldn't need faith to believe it -- it would be supported by good evidence.
