PratchettFan
Gold Member
- Jun 20, 2012
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Another claim of pure belief. A statement of faith, if you will. There is absolutely no evidence faith was "invented". It is far more probable faith is inherent in humans. You certainly don't lack it.
What earns the Atheist scorn is that their expression of belief, and it is belief regardless of the definitions, is not in keeping with the majority. All minorities are scorned. This too is human nature. We always attack the outsider.[/QUOTE]
I should have said the term faith, and the usage of the term was invented.
The faith based belief that there is some path to eternal life is probably an outgrowth of the survival instinct coupled with the awareness of mortality.[/QUOTE]
I would agree it is an outgrowth of awareness. We don't simply react, we look into the future and imagine what is going to happen. Belief is a manifestation of imagination. This makes it entirely normal human behavior. We all have it. The trick is to recognize the difference between belief and knowledge.
I don't think belief is a conscious thing. Certainly we can consider what we believe, rationalize it and examine it. But I doubt any of us has any actual control over it. Most of the people in this country are Christian and I truly can't understand why. I went to Sunday school and sang "Jesus Loves Me", but the minute Christianity was explained to me at a point I was able to understand the explanation I was amazed that anyone could believe it. That was not a conscious choice. The first time I read a book on Buddhism I realized that is what I believed. I was not converted, I just finally had a name to put on what I already believed to be true.
What earns the Atheist scorn is that their expression of belief, and it is belief regardless of the definitions, is not in keeping with the majority. All minorities are scorned. This too is human nature. We always attack the outsider.[/QUOTE]
I should have said the term faith, and the usage of the term was invented.
The faith based belief that there is some path to eternal life is probably an outgrowth of the survival instinct coupled with the awareness of mortality.[/QUOTE]
I would agree it is an outgrowth of awareness. We don't simply react, we look into the future and imagine what is going to happen. Belief is a manifestation of imagination. This makes it entirely normal human behavior. We all have it. The trick is to recognize the difference between belief and knowledge.
I don't think belief is a conscious thing. Certainly we can consider what we believe, rationalize it and examine it. But I doubt any of us has any actual control over it. Most of the people in this country are Christian and I truly can't understand why. I went to Sunday school and sang "Jesus Loves Me", but the minute Christianity was explained to me at a point I was able to understand the explanation I was amazed that anyone could believe it. That was not a conscious choice. The first time I read a book on Buddhism I realized that is what I believed. I was not converted, I just finally had a name to put on what I already believed to be true.