(Alpha and Omega;55694)
Well faith is important because it really is the only way for us to know God. In the present day anyway. However we do have faith in everyday aspects of our lives. You trust your partner not to cheat on you right? Just like my boss has faith in me that the work will get done.
Faith is not the same thing as trust. Trust is something you earn, something you come to hold in someone else because of their past actions. I
trust my partner not to cheat because he has never cheated on me before, because all his actions indicate that he loves me and me alone, and because our conversation reveals that he understands the importance of commitment. Just as I am sure that your boss trusts that you will get your work done because you have exhibited to him in the past that you are a hard worker (and, before he saw that, because of your resume - clearly, it is not
purely a matter of faith, because no employer would accept and trust in an applicant without a resume, simply as a matter of faith!)The examples of flying and driving in a car are similar. If no one had ever driven a car or flown in a plane before, then I definitely
wouldn't have faith that it wouldn't break down. But I know that people have driven cars billions of times before. What this reveals to us is that it is not
faith that is the virtue in these instances - it's
induction. God, however, does not have a strong inductive case going for him.(Alpha and Omega)
I suppose you are blaming hundreds thousands or even millions of deaths on religion.
That actually isn't what I was implying (though that's a good point too). All I was saying is that it seems as though we have selectively identified faith as a virtue in the realm of religion, whereas everywhere else (like in the bridge example) faith is a negative.(Alpha and Omega)
Which I would agree with you 100 %. Religion is one of the worst if not the worst institution this world has ever seen. It's not going away either and it has real power in this corrupt world.
Well, some religious institutions are very corrupt. However, even as an atheist I can identify that religious institutions have done a lot of good in this world. I don't agree with their tenants, but when a Christian missionary goes to do relief work in a third-world nation, or when a Buddhist monk peacefully protests oppression, I think this is a beautiful thing. So let's not demonize them
too much. Churches may bring out the worst in some people, and I may not agree with their doctrines, but they are also a catalyst for a lot of good.But I digress.(Alpha and Omega)
To differentiate ones choice from a blind guess the only thing you could do is research. Take me for example I used to be Catholic and I went to church every Sunday. There were many things that bugged me about the religion but I just never really had the courage to ask. Even to this day when I try and explain to people (person to person) I get really nervous for some unknown reason. I was born into a Catholic family but something was not right. One major thing that I did not agree with was we were building a new church in my area and the priest would always and I mean always talk about money. He would say "I'm going to take your money ha ha ha" literally like this. I always asked myself why the hell does he need it when the Catholic church is sitting upon billions and billions themselves?
That's you using reason, though, not faith. And I agree with you that you can use reason to show that a lot of religions are either false or horribly corrupt. Scientology, for example, since the government has actually found correspondence letters from L. Ron Hubbard in which he specifically detailed how he was going to turn his ideas into a religion for the sake of profit. You can confront that evidence with the most elementary reason that and think "You know, Scientology is probably bogus." Your case with the Catholic Church is another good example.With Christianity, there are so many different interpretations that I cannot possibly
prove all of them false. I can prove that
some of them must have the wrong idea (young-earth creationists, for example), but
disproving claims about the supernatural is a tricky business. That being said, no interpretation of Christianity has ever offered sufficient proof of its truth.(Alpha and Omega)
If you were God how would you do it then? just curious.
Hmm, interesting question.I don't think I'd concern myself with material creation in the first place. It seems completely unnecessary for an omnipotent being. And if I
did create something, I don't think I'd give everyone free will - well, not unless they were much nicer people than we are, anyway. But assuming they did have free will? Yes, I'd reveal myself unequivocally to everyone. I think that's the only just thing to do. I'm sure you disagree with atheists, but they are clearly not all insane or delusional - I consider the very fact that God's existence could be a point of contention to be problematic, especially when an eternity in hell is at stake (though I think I'd do away with that, too.)So, I don't think I'd even bother with a matter of eternal judgment. I'd make sure everyone knew
exactly what the deal was with this God, so that the decision was a no-brainer, and if for some reason someone
still didn't get the picture, then I'd take away his Nintendo until he straightened up.
