Georgia State School Superintendent wants to remove the word "evolution" from school science books. As yet another attempt to undermine Science by the Religious Right and as yet another demostration of the dangers of allowing Religion into Politics, it begs the question: don't these people have enough Faith? Are they so uncomfortable in their beliefs that they have to expand their irrational life positions on others to reinforce themselves? What is Faith?
Faith is simply a held belief, held though without logical reason. A belief in God is a matter of Faith and is the cornerstone of many religions. This is because there is no proof for God. If there were then Faith would change to Fact and we would have a lot less bloodshed in this world.
Faith should not be confused with Hope or Trust. Jacob Spinney-An 18 year-old Atheist?s Rebuttal to ?5 Crucial Questions about Christianity does a good job of discussing the differences between Faith and Trust but he leaves out Hope.
Hope is a gamble, a probability. I hope I will win the Lottery but I probably won't. Compare that to "I have Faith that I will win the Lottery." They both involve me playing the Lottery for starters but Faith implies that I may do some other actions or hold some thoughts that have no bearing on the Lottery but that will cause me to win the Lottery. I may pray. I may send emails to random folks. But in general the Lottery is left up to its own devices. Kind of like God. I can pray. I can pray some more yet the results may or may not happen. It's up to this unknowable, non-entity or it's left to chance and we can't know either way.
If Faith in God is no different than Faith in chance, I'll take the latter, recognize that chance is tied in with probability, remove the Faith part, and stick with Hope.
Here's another example. On TV law shows there's always a scene where the lawyer asks the witness "Isn't it possible that the victim while struggling with the assailant caused the assailant to repeatedly stab himself?" The witness always then tries to reply with some detail but is cut off by the lawyer: "Yes or No!" The witness then answers yes.
Is it possible that God exists? Yes. Is it possible that unicorns exist? Yes. Is it possible that there is life on Neptune? Yes. Is it possible that Bill Gates will donate his entire fortune to help pay off the U.S. deficit? Yes.
Is it probable that God exists? No. Is it probable that unicorns exist? Likely not. Is it probable that there is life on Neptune? Not likely. Is it probable that Bill Gates will donate his entire fortune to help pay off the U.S. deficit? Hell no.
Possibilities are mental masturbation played by religious and political leaders to defend their positions of power. It's possible that Hussein had Weapons of Mass Destruction but improbable that he would have used them against us. It's possible that Bush and his cronies wanted to invade Iraq for their own nefarious purposes and it's probable that that is what happened.
Faith is perverted Hope and look at what it leads to - fear. Fear that you don't have enough Faith. Fear that the other belief systems are wrong but may be right but have to be wrong so we better get them to show that we are right. Fear that the responsibility of one's actions will be placed on the person, instead of a convenient crutch called God. Fear to truly embrace freedom. Fear to think for one's self. Fear to explore our wondrous world with our inborn curiosity.
Enough. Enough. Enough. Keep your Religions. Keep your Faith. I prefer to look without blinders. I prefer to not strap on explosives. I prefer to live with people and find solutions without violence. Who's the hero?
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