Believing where we cannot prove

[dreadgeek]

Originally Posted by Bit

Really, now, for a skeptic you're not very cynical. Leave it to a person of faith to fill in the gap. *cheeky grin*

But then--and I speak seriously here--I don't believe that public figures who either make money or gain power from espousing religious ideals actually BELIEVE what they say. My neighbor might believe it, or the guy down the street from you; any ordinary person might truly believe in religious ideals--but those who use them to make a cushy life for themselves?

Nah. I'm not buying it.
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You know, I've tried very hard not to be too cynical because one of the criticisms that skeptics get is that we're so cynical.

You know it's interesting that you should mention the cynicism. I HOPE that most of these folks espousing these things ARE, in fact, cynical because if they're cynically using religion to further their own material ends they can be stopped--hell, they'll stop themselves while not letting their followers *know* what's going on. It's the true believers that bother me. A cynic using anything to get over will not drive the car over the cliff. He might *talk* about driving over the cliff but before the car *actually* gets to the cliff he'll stop and find a good reason not to keep going. The True Believer, however, will keep going and there is no force on Earth that will stop them.

The cynic may *talk* about 'protecting marriage' but he's very unlikely to actually vote to make homosexuality illegal. The true believer, on the other hand, is not only happy to vote to make homosexuality illegal but looks forward to being the instrument of justice himself.

And you *know* that my question of 'how do you tell the 'good' beliefs from the 'bad' beliefs' is my own little koan to encourage people to think about it because--and this might just be my cynicism--it seems to me that we don't take the power of ideas seriously enough.

Cheers
Aj