RE: Question about "faith"
September 24, 2020 at 8:23 pm
(This post was last modified: September 24, 2020 at 8:24 pm by Simon Moon.)
(September 24, 2020 at 6:29 pm)Belacqua Wrote:(September 24, 2020 at 6:01 pm)Simon Moon Wrote: If someone is able to prove I have a belief that is not based on the above criteria, you know what I'll do? Stop believing it.
Right. As I've said many times, you feel that faith in God is unwarranted, while the beliefs you have are warranted. That's not in question.
If by some rare chance you did have a moment of weakness, and the idea popped into your mind that the spooky noise in your house came from a ghost, the faith that you have in science would suppress this silly idea, as a reason-based exercise of will.
Nope.
I would never have the idea that the 'spooky noise' in my house was actually due to a ghost, anymore than I or a Christian would have the idea that the 'spooky noise' in their house was due to a Jinn (being from Islamic culture). There is nothing that I would need to suppress in order to disbelieve it was a ghost.
I don't even know how a ghost is a candidate explanation for any noise, anywhere. I do not have to rule out a ghost as an explanation for the noise, I need justification to rule it in.
Hell, I don't even know if a ghost is a possible explanation. Possibility has to be demonstrated, as does impossibility. And just because something is not logically impossible, does not mean it is possible.
Just like I do not have to consciously rule out gods as an explanation for the universe, I need justification to rule it in.
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.