Faith
From RationalWiki
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.
| “ | If you have to believe it, it isn't true[1] | ” |
| —Provided by Human, gratis. | ||
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 overcredulous faith in human nature, and less rational)
- I have faith in God. (Based on myth and totally irrational)
You can tell a godbotherer has lost the argument when s/he invokes faith.
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 |
[edit] Faith quotations
- "Faith is believing what you know ain't so!" - Mark Twain
- "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[2]
- "What do you want if you don't want money?" - Adam Faith
[edit] 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.
[edit] See also
[edit] Footnotes
- ↑ Human shamelessly whores his own site and quotes himself.
- ↑ That's right. The Bible says that love (specifically, charity, in its original meaning) is greater than faith.
