interesting post, but i can't say i entirely agree with your points.
we do have faith in things because of evidence - it's just that the evidence we have is not always sufficient or accurate.
i have faith my family loves me because of their actions, their words and the idea of been raised with - that families love each other.
i have faith in the human race's ability to pull itself together and create a better world, because i have seen and read about enough people doing good things, because i have seen evidence of a will to do so, and because i believe history tends toward an increase in the sense of humanity as global and an acceptance of our interrelatedness. i am also temperamentally disposed to hold such evidence higher than evidence to the opposite, because i am an optimist and have difficulty despairing. i recognise that this faith may prove wrong, and it is not as strong as my faith that my family loves me, because i have less evidence, and because i am quite analytical and able to recognise when i am making assumptions.
these things don't come from nowhere, or from some special knowledge in the heart. it's just that our brains don't always process things rationally, and we sometimes need to make assumptions (i can never prove that my family loves me or the human race will survive, but it would be hard for me to get though the day without making some assumptions about these things), based on more or less evidence, analysed in a variety of ways (rationally, emotionally, though other assumptions, through existing beliefs- and probably through some mixture of the above.)
but then i am also suspicious of many arguments for faith, because too often this means people want their faith respect regardless of arguments against it. i am not saying faith is bad, but rather that articles of faith should always be open to rational debate and discussion, not given a special exemption because they are articles of faith.
but then, i would also argue that faith is just strongly held belief. difference of magnitude rather than kind.
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Date: 2008-07-02 07:34 am (UTC)we do have faith in things because of evidence - it's just that the evidence we have is not always sufficient or accurate.
i have faith my family loves me because of their actions, their words and the idea of been raised with - that families love each other.
i have faith in the human race's ability to pull itself together and create a better world, because i have seen and read about enough people doing good things, because i have seen evidence of a will to do so, and because i believe history tends toward an increase in the sense of humanity as global and an acceptance of our interrelatedness. i am also temperamentally disposed to hold such evidence higher than evidence to the opposite, because i am an optimist and have difficulty despairing. i recognise that this faith may prove wrong, and it is not as strong as my faith that my family loves me, because i have less evidence, and because i am quite analytical and able to recognise when i am making assumptions.
these things don't come from nowhere, or from some special knowledge in the heart. it's just that our brains don't always process things rationally, and we sometimes need to make assumptions (i can never prove that my family loves me or the human race will survive, but it would be hard for me to get though the day without making some assumptions about these things), based on more or less evidence, analysed in a variety of ways (rationally, emotionally, though other assumptions, through existing beliefs- and probably through some mixture of the above.)
but then i am also suspicious of many arguments for faith, because too often this means people want their faith respect regardless of arguments against it. i am not saying faith is bad, but rather that articles of faith should always be open to rational debate and discussion, not given a special exemption because they are articles of faith.
but then, i would also argue that faith is just strongly held belief. difference of magnitude rather than kind.