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originally posted in:Secular Sevens
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Edited by Ric_Adbur:
4/10/2013 5:24:34 PM
40
Why is faith good?
This is an honest question from an atheist to those who believe in any kind of religion or more general 'spirituality.'
In my debates with religious folks, the word 'faith' comes up rather often. Whenever I bring up my perceived lack of evidence for a particular belief, or logical inconsistency of the argument they use to support a notion, they'll say "People just have to have faith," or something to the effect of "If God showed himself, what would be left to have faith in?"
So my question is this: [b]Why is faith something to be valued?[/b] Why should one [i]want[/i] to believe in something for which they have no supporting evidence or argument? How is the act of accepting the truth of a notion despite having no reason to do so beneficial or desirable in any way?
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1 ReplyI think a better way to phrase it would be to get down to the root question; why believe in any religion at all? When it all comes down to it, there really is no more evidence for one religion than there is for another. In fact, there really is no evidence for any of them--unless you have some miraculous personal experience that you see on television or something etc. Anyhow, moving on, I think it may be rooted in a Pascal's Wager-type approach. People believe in religion because if it turns out to be true, then it offers them something in the end (usually). I guess they see more benefit and find solace in the hope that [i]just maybe[/i], there is something more, and in the end they'll get something.
