I respect Buddhist skepticism, however why would a Buddhist even ask? That would require curiosity. In fact on the internet you will find that this is something often missing from Buddhist practice. Its simply not relevant in Buddhism and is extra-Buddhisular, but people can take Buddhism as an entire way of life. Hence why would a Buddhist be curious about what is in my hand?
Just so you know I am not the only person who has noticed this. Here is a blog where a person argues that Buddhism is more like a technology than a Science as it lacks curiosity:
some blog about stuff relating to curiosity and Buddhism They seem to think Buddhism (as well as modern Psychology) contains a "Powerful belief system that stifles curiosity" and suggests incorporation some kind of curiosity training into meditation. I can't say that I follow the entire conversation.
Not really. The word faith is an English term whose meaning has drifted over the last 400 years since its use in the English Bible began. It was a word that originally had multiple meanings, so no it wasn't created to justify belief in something without a shred of evidence. There are many people who do think that a single use of the word faith is original and are unaware that the meaning has drifted. If you ask around people will indeed tell you that faith means believing in things without proof, however it was not a term created to support that usage. You can check the original meanings by looking up the etymology of the term. There was no vile or conspiratorial venom in its creation. The meaning became lost.
