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RE: putting the brakes on faith
December 15, 2014 at 8:11 pm
Actually, how we "feel" about it, faith or confidence, doesn't matter in the least. The earth revolves regardless of pro or anti faith or confidence. It just is, and science just observes and tests what "is."
Find the cure for Fundementia!
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RE: putting the brakes on faith
December 15, 2014 at 8:18 pm
(December 15, 2014 at 7:00 pm)dyresand Wrote: i know how you feel. in the south i met someone who believed that other races came from different animals.
It doesn't surprise me. An old man at a warehouse I used to work at said with dead earnestness that black people were black because they bore the mark of Cain. That's the kind of crazy I have to contend with here.
"We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid." ~ Benjamin Franklin
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RE: putting the brakes on faith
December 15, 2014 at 8:20 pm
(December 15, 2014 at 8:18 pm)Strider Wrote: (December 15, 2014 at 7:00 pm)dyresand Wrote: i know how you feel. in the south i met someone who believed that other races came from different animals.
It doesn't surprise me. An old man at a warehouse I used to work at said with dead earnestness that black people were black because they bore the mark of Cain. That's the kind of crazy I have to contend with here.
I had a Mormon friend one tell me very seriously that "Black people are descendants of a cursed race."
I reject your reality and substitute my own!
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RE: putting the brakes on faith
December 15, 2014 at 9:14 pm
faith has different levels and is used rather losely these days. I don't do "blind faith" but I have "faith" that my kids will be in school tomorrow. twist it this away or twist it that way. whatever floats the agenda boat.
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RE: putting the brakes on faith
December 16, 2014 at 1:51 am
It is sad that theists have had to resort to cheap tactics such as using one word to mean two different things and hoping you don't notice. Something that is true does not need mental gymnastics and sleight of hand to demonstrate.
Every apologist tactic is inherently dishonest. The only question is whether they realize they are doing it. If you have already drawn your conclusions based on emotions or conditioning, then you also assume your arguments make sense I suppose. You can't or won't think about the consequence of them being faulty.
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RE: putting the brakes on faith
December 16, 2014 at 2:34 pm
(December 15, 2014 at 9:14 pm)comet Wrote: faith has different levels and is used rather losely these days. I don't do "blind faith" but I have "faith" that my kids will be in school tomorrow. twist it this away or twist it that way. whatever floats the agenda boat.
I think the way theists use it changes the word. Faith as we use it outside of religion implies trust that has a basis of some sort. Faith as used by religion specifies trust without any basis ("blessed are those who do not see, yet believe"). This allows them to bypass the normal way in which we express belief, so that not having any tangible evidence becomes a feature and not a bug.
"Well, evolution is a theory. It is also a fact. And facts and theories are different things, not rungs in a hierarchy of increasing certainty. Facts are the world's data. Theories are structures of ideas that explain and interpret facts. Facts don't go away when scientists debate rival theories to explain them. Einstein's theory of gravitation replaced Newton's in this century, but apples didn't suspend themselves in midair, pending the outcome. And humans evolved from ape- like ancestors whether they did so by Darwin's proposed mechanism or by some other yet to be discovered."
-Stephen Jay Gould
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RE: putting the brakes on faith
December 16, 2014 at 2:41 pm
Whoever came up with the idea that believing without evidence is a good thing, is the one everyone should be worshipping. It's the most brilliant con ever.