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Topic Started: Apr 29 2015, 06:50 PM (7 Views)
Radnor
Administrator
One of the goals of afaithist dot com, is to provoke discussion and advancement towards isolating the unique and dangerous role of the concept of "faith" in American society.

You may note, in the main page of wwwdotafaithismdotorg, I defined "atheism" in terms a bit at odds with its popular usage. This definition isolates 'theism' as the logical antitheses of 'atheism'. This, I think, is central to the discussion of faith in our society. Theism describes a belief in a "God" whose presence is personal and very much concerned with the eternal disposition of our immortal being. Beyond this, theists can, and more often than not do, disagree amongst themselves as to what their particular version of a creator-god represents. Despite these differences, they are all identical insofar as they each describe beliefs rooted in dogmatic constructs held to be uniquely representative of Life, the Universe, and Everything. Their faith is measured to what degree they commit their belief in their particular unique representation.

And here is where we collectively jump the shark.

America has found itself in the position of having institutionalized the closely held belief in something as a virtue in itself. This consignment even goes so far as to equate a paucity of evidence as further validation of the sincerity of conviction. The less evidence, the more faith required to believe. To describe someone as a “man of faith” would not be considered, as a matter of broad course, to be intended as anything closed to a pejorative. On the contrary, it can be safely said to be a commonly accepted term of respect.

See, we’ve relegated skepticism to the margins of rational discourse. A “doubting Thomas” is an assignation reserved for those who refuse to accept the truth. It’s from this dialog our collective credulity is plumbed and harnessed. The more we can defend our beliefs without the need to rationalize them, the less discerning we are. The line between arguments and assertions becomes immaterial. We’ve become a resource exploited by those who need our belief, and know how to appeal to our need to believe.
It’s not just religion, though religion is hardly a stand-alone component in the scope of competition for our belief. Money, power, influence, are all bought with the currency of credulity. Faith is farmed by many forces. The North Korean regime is entirely dependent on it. Without faith, no one convinces themselves it’s a virtue to march their fellow man into ovens.

We need look no further than the fact the most trusted news source in America, as measured by those who watch it, is also the least credible, as measured by objective analysis. Now, add to that the fact it is able to charge more for its programming than its competitors, and you have a profitable model. “A fool and his money…”, and all that.

Anyway, here I wanted to prime the pump, and instead I drained the well. Tell me what you think.

-Radnor


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