Faith

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==Faith as a virtue==
 
==Faith as a virtue==
  
The word "faith" carries many positive implications of ''trust'' and ''loyalty'', but in normal life it's not taken to be an unbeatable virtue.  Every (fully mature, mentally healthy) person has a limit to their trust and their loyalty.  We warn children against untrustworthy people precisely because they don't know when it's appropriate to trust/have faith and when not to.  We don't encourage them to belief that jumping out of trees wearing superman costumes is a good idea.  Praising unquestioning faith - or unquestioning loyalty - in ''anything'' is objectively dangerous.  Even in a traditionalist, hidebound society, normally the only entities who are upheld as deserving unquestioning loyalty are the highest authority figures and prestige institutions, not just ordinary people. And even in those cases it's not in any sense justifiable.  The problem is that people who claim that faith is a virtue in itself always want to make exceptions for things that it's ''not'' okay to have faith in - a Christian fundy is hardly going to praised the devotion of [[Osama bin Laden]], for example.
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The word "faith" carries many positive implications of ''trust'' and ''loyalty'', but in normal life it's not taken to be an unbeatable virtue.  Every (fully mature, mentally healthy) person has a limit to their trust and their loyalty.  We warn children against untrustworthy people precisely because they don't know when it's appropriate to trust/have faith and when not to.  We don't encourage them to belief that jumping out of trees wearing superman costumes is a good idea.  Praising unquestioning faith - or unquestioning loyalty - in ''anything'' is objectively dangerous.  Even in a traditionalist, hidebound society, normally the only entities who are upheld as deserving unquestioning loyalty are the highest authority figures and prestige institutions, not just ordinary people. And even in those cases it's not in any sense justifiable.  The problem is that people who claim that faith is a virtue in itself always want to make exceptions for things that it's ''not'' okay to have faith in — a Christian fundy is unlikely to praise the devotion of [[Osama bin Laden]], for example.
  
 
== Faith quotations ==
 
== Faith quotations ==

Revision as of 17:16, 7 October 2010

This is an actual photograph (taken by PZ Myers), not a Photoshop creation or output from a sign generator. Dawkins help us.

Faith is something religious people use in place of evidence. People who have faith are rarely persuaded to change their opinions by the use of reasoning or logic, and consequently it is the antithesis of the scientific method and rationalism.

Faith is believing what you know ain't so.
— Mark Twain

There are several uses of the word faith with varying rationality:

  • I have faith that the sun will rise tomorrow morning. (Based on past experience and very rational)
  • I have faith in the legal system. (Based on a sometimes over-credulous faith in human nature, and less rational)
  • I have faith in God. (Based on myth and totally irrational)

Sometimes "have a little faith" is essentially saying "don't be so pessimistic", which may or may not be justified depending on the situation. "Faith in oneself", for example, could be defined as having a rational trust in one's abilities within limits, without unjustifiably assuming they are useless. The key point is justification: when we exhort someone to "have faith in yourself", we do it because we believe there is good evidence they can trust, not in despite of there being none. We don't tell people to have faith they can swallow poison without harm, for example.

You can tell a godbotherer has lost the argument when s/he invokes faith. A tell-tale sign: "of course I'm not being reasonable, that's why it's faith" (said with pride).

The word "faith" is often used as a synonym for "religion", "theology" and/or "a core group of believers;" e.g., "Those of the Christian faith." Faith sounds less threatening than the word "religion", an example of this being the constitutionally questionable Office of Faith Based Initiatives.


Contents

Faith as a virtue

The word "faith" carries many positive implications of trust and loyalty, but in normal life it's not taken to be an unbeatable virtue. Every (fully mature, mentally healthy) person has a limit to their trust and their loyalty. We warn children against untrustworthy people precisely because they don't know when it's appropriate to trust/have faith and when not to. We don't encourage them to belief that jumping out of trees wearing superman costumes is a good idea. Praising unquestioning faith - or unquestioning loyalty - in anything is objectively dangerous. Even in a traditionalist, hidebound society, normally the only entities who are upheld as deserving unquestioning loyalty are the highest authority figures and prestige institutions, not just ordinary people. And even in those cases it's not in any sense justifiable. The problem is that people who claim that faith is a virtue in itself always want to make exceptions for things that it's not okay to have faith in — a Christian fundy is unlikely to praise the devotion of Osama bin Laden, for example.

Faith quotations

  • "Faith is powerful enough to immunize people against all appeals to pity, to forgiveness, to decent human feelings. It even immunizes them against fear, if they honestly believe that a martyr’s death will send them straight to heaven." - R. Dawkins
  • "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." - 1 Corinthians 13:13[1]
  • "What do you want if you don't want money?" - Adam Faith

Faith as a euphemism

The word faith is commonly used in place of religion. Presumably it sounds less threatening, particularly when it's being used to describe unconstitutional governmental endorsements of religion, and religious schools.

See also

Footnotes

  1. That's right. The Bible says that love (specifically, charity, in its original meaning) is greater than faith.
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