Why faith is an impossible argument

[Kuciwalker]

"I contend that we are both atheists; I simply believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you don't believe in all the other gods, you'll understand why I don't believe in yours."

I don't know who said this, but this is one of my favorite quotes. It shows that when someone insists you have "faith" in something, it is no more true than what some other person told you to have faith in. So which should I believe, in this god or that? All are equally (un)supported.

[Cruddy]

I guess faith is an illogical argument. Accepting something without proof (not evidence - not the same) is illogical.

It's not impossible though, and we have to take a lot of everyday things on faith (for instance, the existence of other countries and the events of the past).

As for the religion angle - if a religion has any worth, it's giving people a set of guidelines to live by. I guess we all know truly religious, evangelical people. Showing scepicism to them isn't the same as showing scorn.

It's horrible living without a set of at least some basic guidelines. I know, I've been there... and I don't want to go back.

[Zero]

we rely on faith more than we think we do.

[Mercator]

Believe in all of them, just to be sure.

[SlowwHand]

Zero makes one heck of an observation.

[Sava]

Skywalker: You make a very good point. I think religion is an interesting phenomenon. Humans, most of them anyways, have logical intelligence. But as children, are very impressionable. I would love to see a movie where someone tries to teach an AI (computer) to believe in God.

[SlowwHand]

It's not only children that find their faith.

[SlowwHand]

And besides that, why stop at faith ?
See if your AI buddy recognizes any emotion.

Your analogies are striking.

[Zero]

Originally posted by Mercator
Believe in all of them, just to be sure.

being a deist is ur best bet if u think about it.

My own version of "Pascals wager".

Atheist - Doesnt win if any god exists.
Christian/Muslim/Mormon etc - Bet all chips on one pile
Deist - (at judgement day)"Can I get at least partial credit for knowing u exist but I just couldnt recall your name?"

[Sava]

I think religious faith is more a question of socialization, impressionability, and the question of need.

[SlowwHand]

"In a fox-hole, there are no atheists".

Bank on it.

[loinburger]

Faith is illogical, but so what? You can't live life by logic alone. (Or maybe you could, but why would you want to?)

[Asher]

Originally posted by SlowwHand
And besides that, why stop at faith ?
See if your AI buddy recognizes any emotion.

Your analogies are striking.

AI can and do recognize emotion. Using even webcams and cheap microphones it can analyze voice pitch, facial expressions, and pretty accurately determine emotion.

[Lincoln]

It is interesting how much af mans logic has been proved wrong over the years. One who relies on logic alone rests on shifting sand.

[Sava]

Originally posted by Zero


being a deist is ur best bet if u think about it.

My own version of "Pascals wager".

Atheist - Doesnt win if any god exists.
Christian/Muslim/Mormon etc - Bet all chips on one pile
Deist - (at judgement day)"Can I get at least partial credit for knowing u exist but I just couldnt recall your name?"

in an attempt to be serious... I don't think that God would hold disbelief against anyone. If God wanted, surely God could present concrete proof of existence. One has to wonder about the mental health of a God that would create intelligent life and then penalize it for not believing without providing any evidence. If God is like that, then I wouldn't want to worship such a psychopath anyhow.

This catch-22 of sorts is one of the reasons I tend to think Judeo-Christianity is wrong. If God exists, no human knows what to expect. I can't tell you what's right, just what doesn't make sense. Most religions don't. And it's disturbing that so many people base their beliefs and actions on something that makes little sense.