Scottie wrote:To the faithful believer, it's NOT blind faith.
Ask any believer (myself included, when I was a believer) if they have had tangible experiences that re-enforce their belief in a God.
Mormons especially like to point to priesthood healings, answer to prayers, spiritual promptings, etc. as more than blind faith. To them, this is proof that they are indeed worshipping the correct God in the correct religion and being rewarded for it. And, to be honest, some of the stories I've heard from reliable sources indeed sound VERY faith promoting. Some others are... well, lets just say some people like to give God WAAAAAAY too much credit for less than spectacular events.
When I was little and learning to fly fish, I got it in my head that if held certain thoughts when casting, I would catch a fish. Any fish I did catch reinforced my superstition. Any cast that did not result in a fish I conveniently discounted.
I was a very faithful fisherman.
This, or any other post that I have made or will make in the future, is strictly my own opinion and consequently of little or no value.
"Faith is believing something you know ain't true" Twain.
Scottie wrote:The faithful would argue that putting money into a 401k for retirement is an act of faith.
1) That the US will even have a viable economy when you retire 2) That inflation will be lower than the interest accruing in your account 3) That you will still be alive to use the money 4) The company with your 401k money doesn't choose a whole bunch of bad investments and lose it all
Can the faithful prove that, over time, faith in god will ultimately be a net positive?
"your reasoning that children should be experimented upon to justify a political agenda..is tantamount to the Nazi justification for experimenting on human beings."-SUBgenius on gay parents "I've stated over and over again on this forum and fully accept that I'm a bigot..." - ldsfaqs
Scottie wrote:To the faithful believer, it's NOT blind faith.
Ask any believer (myself included, when I was a believer) if they have had tangible experiences that re-enforce their belief in a God.
Mormons especially like to point to priesthood healings, answer to prayers, spiritual promptings, etc. as more than blind faith. To them, this is proof that they are indeed worshipping the correct God in the correct religion and being rewarded for it. And, to be honest, some of the stories I've heard from reliable sources indeed sound VERY faith promoting. Some others are... well, lets just say some people like to give God WAAAAAAY too much credit for less than spectacular events.
That's interpreting natural events to be something else, in the absence of evidence.
It works a bit like paranoia. If I believe there's danger lurking in every shadow, sure enough that's what I see in every shadow.
stemelbow wrote:unless you know, which we can't know unless we somehow go beyond faith, then you are merely making a brazen assertion which may or may not be true. In essence to criticize faith as less than what people claim it to be is to employ faith, or trust, in your own assumptions. Kinda ironic. In essence, we're at an impasse, it seems to me.
So you're at an impasse on the question of the existence of the Easter Bunny too? That's where that logic gets you.
Scottie wrote:The faithful would argue that putting money into a 401k for retirement is an act of faith.
1) That the US will even have a viable economy when you retire 2) That inflation will be lower than the interest accruing in your account 3) That you will still be alive to use the money 4) The company with your 401k money doesn't choose a whole bunch of bad investments and lose it all
Can the faithful prove that, over time, faith in god will ultimately be a net positive?
Heck, the faithful cannot even establish that Mormonism's truth claims near a 50-50 proposition, much less demonstrate ultimately a net positive.