Why faith is evil

[Autodidact]

This paragraph from Richard Dawkins explains better than I could why I think faith is immoral:

I think there's something very evil about faith, where faith means believing in something in the absence of evidence, and actually taking pride in believing in something in the absence of evidence. And the reason that's dangerous is that it justifies essentially anything. If you're taught in your holy book or by your priest that blasphemers should die or apostates should die -- anybody who once believed in the religion and no longer does needs to be killed -- that clearly is evil. And people don't have to justify it because it's their faith. They don't have to say, "Well, here's a very good reason for this." All they need to say is, "That's what my faith says." And we're all expected to back off and respect that. Whether or not we're actually faithful ourselves, we've been brought up to respect faith and to regard it as something that should not be challenged. And that can have extremely evil consequences. The consequences it's had historically -- the Crusades, the Inquisition, right up to the present time where you have suicide bombers and people flying planes into skyscrapers in New York -- all in the name of faith.

 

[Kriya Yogi]

This paragraph from Richard Dawkins explains better than I could why I think faith is immoral:

I agree with this. Although there is some faith out there that is backed by evidence based on spiritual experiences. To believe that killing or causing harm in the name of a book or belief is just ignorant and thus have a false perception of what God should be or is.

 

[ChristineES]

I totally disagree; faith is not evil, it is not immoral. If you you guys don't want theists to tell you are immoral just because you don't believe, why do you think we are any different- why would you think we want to hear that we are immoral just because we do believe? Sounds to me like a double standard.

 

[Kriya Yogi]

I totally disagree; faith is not evil, it is not immoral. If you you guys don't want theists to tell you are immoral just because you don't believe, why do you think we are any different- why would you think we want to hear that we are immoral just because we do believe? Sounds to me like a double standard.

Dont get me wrong I'm not saying that all types of faith are immoral, just the faith that causes harm to God's children, and causes evil thoughts. If it constitutes being more pure then it is a good faith.

 

[ChristineES]

Dont get me wrong I'm not saying that all types of faith are immoral, just the faith that causes harm to God's children, and causes evil thoughts. If it constitutes being more pure then it is a good faith.

Don't get me wrong either, faith can cause some people to do evil things at times, but it isn't the faith itself. It is the person doing the evil deed, not the faith. That person would probably do the same thing even if he didn't have faith as an excuse to do the deed. He/she would just find another excuse. People put too much blame on other things rather than on themselves.

 

[Autodidact]

I totally disagree; faith is not evil, it is not immoral. If you you guys don't want theists to tell you are immoral just because you don't believe, why do you think we are any different- why would you think we want to hear that we are immoral just because we do believe? Sounds to me like a double standard.

If you have an argument as to why you think not believing in God is immoral, by all means make it.

 

[Kriya Yogi]

Don't get me wrong either, faith can cause some people to do evil things at times, but it isn't the faith itself. It is the person doing the evil deed, not the faith. That person would probably do the same thing even if he didn't have faith as an excuse to do the deed. He/she would just find another excuse. People put too much blame on other things rather than on themselves.

Yeah I agree with this. Evil people are just that evil people. Sometimes however brainwashing can occur if a leader speaks with conviction about their beliefs. Weak people can be influenced, which is partly why Al Quaida recruit more and more to their side everyday.

 

[Autodidact]

Here's the key phrase for me: believing in something in the absence of evidence.
IMO the only responsible thing to base your beliefs on is evidence. Anything else begs the moral responsibility to be careful about the truth. In the words of Robert Ingersoll:

[FONT=&quot]it is wrong for a man to say that he is certain of the objective truth of any proposition unless he can produce evidence which logically justifies that certainty. ...immoral is the contrary doctrine, that there are propositions which men ought to believe, without logically satisfactory evidence.[/FONT]

 

[ChristineES]

If you have an argument as to why you think not believing in God is immoral, by all means make it.

I never said that. You are twisting my words around. Belief in God alone is not evil, non-belief in God alone is not evil, either. That is what I am saying and what I have been trying to say all along. It is people themselves that do evil- sometimes they need an excuse and sometimes they don't. And sometimes they use their faith as an excuse. Most people of faith don't do evil and then say it is because of their faith- just as people who have no faith don't use their lack of faith to do evil.

 

[ChristineES]

Here's the key phrase for me: believing in something in the absence of evidence.
IMO the only responsible thing to base your beliefs on is evidence. Anything else begs the moral responsibility to be careful about the truth. In the words of Robert Ingersoll:

[FONT=&quot]it is wrong for a man to say that he is certain of the objective truth of any proposition unless he can produce evidence which logically justifies that certainty. ...immoral is the contrary doctrine, that there are propositions which men ought to believe, without logically satisfactory evidence.[/FONT]

There are a lot of people who have weak spirits. They can't think for themselves and they let others do their thinking for them and sometimes the strong will use faith as a method. But, in my opinion, that is the exception and not the rule.

 

[.lava]

Don't get me wrong either, faith can cause some people to do evil things at times, but it isn't the faith itself. It is the person doing the evil deed, not the faith. That person would probably do the same thing even if he didn't have faith as an excuse to do the deed. He/she would just find another excuse. People put too much blame on other things rather than on themselves.

don't get me wrong either IMO following selfish reasons and hurt people while getting what you want is immoral. so it does not really require 'faith' or a belief system. it is perfectly 'personal' and it is inclination of human ego to chose himself over others. it all becomes even more scary when people ignore their conscience. well, basically i agree with ChristineES on this one. let's see if people could manage to stop adding to hatred, alienation and dividing people. once they've divided societies with borders now that we have internet and therefor no borders, we tend to do it personal. well... is it wise?

.

 

[Levite]

This paragraph from Richard Dawkins explains better than I could why I think faith is immoral:

I think there's something very evil about faith, where faith means believing in something in the absence of evidence, and actually taking pride in believing in something in the absence of evidence. And the reason that's dangerous is that it justifies essentially anything. If you're taught in your holy book or by your priest that blasphemers should die or apostates should die -- anybody who once believed in the religion and no longer does needs to be killed -- that clearly is evil. And people don't have to justify it because it's their faith. They don't have to say, "Well, here's a very good reason for this." All they need to say is, "That's what my faith says." And we're all expected to back off and respect that. Whether or not we're actually faithful ourselves, we've been brought up to respect faith and to regard it as something that should not be challenged. And that can have extremely evil consequences. The consequences it's had historically -- the Crusades, the Inquisition, right up to the present time where you have suicide bombers and people flying planes into skyscrapers in New York -- all in the name of faith.

That's not faith, that's fundamentalism. The classic mistake of the anti-religionist. By the same argument, we could say that science is just evil, because it permits the manufacture of horrifying weapons, and look at all those arms merchants and mercenaries and murderers out there using weapons to kill people.

And of course, we all know that argument is ridiculous. Horrifying weapons are what happens when science is used for evil purposes. Anything can be used for evil purposes. But it is the specific use that is evil, not the idea, the knowledge, the entirety of the area of thought.

 

[Autodidact]

What I want to focus on is what sort of foundation is required for a belief to be morally justified. To me, it requires evidence, and believing things without evidence is immoral--it's too careless with the truth. And that leads to many bad things.

 

[CarlinKnew]

What I want to focus on is what sort of foundation is required for a belief to be morally justified. To me, it requires evidence, and believing things without evidence is immoral--it's too careless with the truth. And that leads to many bad things.

Belief without evidence may be irrational, but I don't think you can make the case that it's immoral. For example, there could be someone who's only open to faith-based beliefs that are conducive to moral behavior. You might however say that the type of personality that has a tendency to believe based on faith is potentially more dangerous than one that believes based on evidence.

 

[Tristesse]

I totally disagree; faith is not evil, it is not immoral. If you you guys don't want theists to tell you are immoral just because you don't believe, why do you think we are any different- why would you think we want to hear that we are immoral just because we do believe? Sounds to me like a double standard.

It's not that you believe, but it's the reason WHY you believe. Basing anything on faith is a really bad way of determining reality from fantasy. Is there any other facet of your life, other than religion, where you would base such tenuous and flimsey reasoning that faith offers?

 

[Atomist]

Faith isn't evil and actually is good from time to time... Coughlan616 explains it every well:
[youtube]vU4V0zIcv8U[/youtube]
YouTube - In Defence of Faith

 

[Senior NevaLes X]

There is no absence of evidence, just presence of lies!

 

[Senior NevaLes X]

The lies have been introduced over time. They have been inserted into all aspects of life! All this Idiotic talk about there being no God. ** Edited ** God is the energy that caused all of this to be. You know this thing called life!

 

[xkatz]

I think BLIND faith can be evil and dangerous, but faith if backed up by personal experience and if used in a productive manner, can be a potentially good thing.

 

[Dan4reason]

What I want to focus on is what sort of foundation is required for a belief to be morally justified. To me, it requires evidence, and believing things without evidence is immoral--it's too careless with the truth. And that leads to many bad things.

I think that faith is illogical and just plain dumb. I do not know why people would believe such fanciful things when they do not have a shred of evidence. I disagree with Richard Dawkins that faith is evil. Faith can be used to give hope and comfort. However, and factless overly confident view of the world is in many cases dangerous. False things generally are dangerous even if they sometimes give hope and comfort. If people have faith in something harmful, then they can end up doing harm and being bigoted to unbelievers when they do not have a shred of evidence.

Faith is not all bad but the world has seen cases when it has shown its real danger. A person who has faith in something that is really harmful is dangerous because you cannot compromise with him, you cannot disswade him, and his ferocity and drive can be overwhelming. The Taliban is an example and so is the Inquisition.