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Replying to Diogenes in post #6]
I am sure it is Faith. I am as fascinated by the phenomenon and mechanism and purpose of Faith as I am by the faithbased methods of theist argument. I see Faith as an evolutionary survival mechanism, and can even guess at why we have it.
But as I said to a couple of posters on my former board, the instinct to godfaith does not have to be one for revealing truth rather than enabling survival, somehow. Godfaith does not have to be true or reveal truth, yet I am pretty sure the believers thinks that Faith is revealing Truth. It is why they are sure they are right, no matter what the evidence, and 'bad evidence' as a couple have called it, is still regarded as 'Evidence' and (somehow
) is valid because the only purpose of evidence is to validate the Faith. It is why Believers damn each other as being in darkness, deluded and going to Hell (1) as much as any atheist, or believer in another religion. It is only understandable in terms of a ..."Belief that God through Faith is putting truth into their heads". That is the basis of
a prori Godfaith and explains everything about what is otherwise pretty bewildering thinking.
Of course - and this is a Belief of mine - people do want to think that their beliefs are reasonable. And (another belief of mine...
) they know, deep down when a belief or claim of theirs looks wrong and is even proven wrong on evidence and reason, and Faithbased denialism of science, reason and even what the Bible actually says, sometimes fails. It's why some people reject Hell -threat and go UR, Creationist and become Christian evolutionists and even become somewhat deist and consider 'all religions a perception of God', even if they secretly believe that their concept is the more true one. (See cherry -picking, metaphor, Interpretation and cafeteria Christianity as an alternative to denial or fiddling of the actual data).
I must sound like a dogmatist myself, yet I am sure not only that Paul and Jesus and at least Some of the 'apostles' (the 12) were real, but the Gospel story is largely fabricated by Greek Christians (and I have the evidence), and that Godfaith, which is the basis of all Christian denial, dismissal and inverted logic, is the key and clue to understanding them, which they don't do very well themselves, and would much rather not.
Oh, a p.s. This Faithbased thinking (and science denial) is not limited to Godfaith; no, it also is used in Culthink such as UFOs, Alien technology (the Daainiken cult) and conspiracy theories, and I need hardly labour the politicised claims of bamboo ballots to see how Faith, science denial and politics can become a frothy, toxic and very dangerous mix, with or without a religious element.
(1) on that former board the ToS included denouncing other Christians as 'not Real Christians' as a bannable offence.
