Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Goodly, Godly, Gosh

Since it is impossible to disprove anything, for instance that an invisible pink unicorn is watching me type, some people believe that disbelief in God is as much a matter of faith as belief in God.

Are they correct?

Many philosophers claim that knowledge is a justified true opinion, that is, a learned opinion formed from observation and in accordance with reality.

For instance, you might believe the earth is round without being able to explain your position. That is not considered knowledge by the philosophers, since it isn't based upon any evidence. If, however, you could assert that you know the earth is round because of the round shadow it makes on the moon, or that ships disappear over the horizon, or you've seen the photos of earth viewed from space, then you would have a right to make the claim that you are knowledgeable about the earth's shape.

Since when it comes to God there is a lack of evidence either way, it seems philosophers would argue neither position can claim to be based upon knowledge.

Given this logic you can see why I feel religious leaders speak of "faith" when they are well-meaning and "belief" when they are not.

Given this logic you can see why I feel the same way about atheists that "know" God doesn't exist (or invisible pink unicorns for that matter).

You can think that God exists if you cannot know him.
You can know that God exists if you cannot think him.


All this is food for thought as I direct you to a recent article by Sam Harris, who asks readers to reconsider their strongly-held beliefs:

Tyrant of the Bible

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Foot Quotes

"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge"

Charles Darwin