Religion
In reply to the discussion: what is the most important aspect of the interaction between belivers and non believers [View all]enki23
(7,795 posts)It is only "an act of faith," in the usual religious meaning, if the available evidence fails to go above 50%. Practically, it has to be much lower. And sure enough, in the case of every known religion, the unambiguous, quality evidence in favor is nonexistent. Like the unicorn, lots of people have written and talked about it. Including in the bible. And yet, it almost certainly isn't real. Like the rest of the bible. Even the parts that are talking about ultra-powerful ghosts and blood and sacrifices and sea monsters. And satyrs. And dragons. And angels. And demons. And gods. And unicorns.
Christians don't get to have it both ways. (Well, obviously they do. But only because they're represented by confused people and bullshitters.) If it is "an act of faith" to believe, then the obvious default, the norm, is to not believe. You can't have "act of faith" go both ways, unless you are willing to turn the idea of an "act of faith" into silly trivia.
Otherwise, well, everything is an act of faith. Like every time I open my front door naively trusting that there are no demons in there waiting to eat me.