originally posted in:Secular Sevens
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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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I can't really give you a rational explanation for faith. I can tell you that I believe that the myths and legends of the world all have a grain of truth in them, simply because I can't comprehend a world that wouldn't have them. It would just make the world so..... mundane. I can't stand the mundane, so I choose to believe in things that by all rights, don't exist, But I choose to have faith that they do. (This applies to God too btw.)