Writers refer to certain groups as "people of faith". Here they are referring, of course, to those who openly profess their religious belief. The contrary, logically, atheists, agnostics, etc., would be, I suppose, "people of no faith" (o ye of no faith!). Those of us who "believe" in what we see, hear, feel, taste, smell...in information that we read or are told which conforms to certain criteria of "believability" - acceptable (reasonably believable) empirical evidence presented in a reasonable manner so as to hang together (long live Mr. Rorty) in a reasonable way... are the "faithless"...No need for faith here, apart from a certain notion of "faith" in the workings of our brains in relation to the outside world, and in the apparent congruity between how my brain relates to that outside world, and how others' do.
People of faith appear to accept certain propositions (existence of God, in certain manifestations, with a certain cosmological, ethical, etc. system) with little to no evidence. Indeed, it seems that precisely the lack of clear empirical evidence and logical presentation/argument is what makes this particular acceptance something called "faith".
We are living within a macro-system (speaking especially in terms of economics) that would seem to be "reality", not "faith" based. Yet, upon an even cursory overview of the current situation, one can easily wonder...what the fuck are these people in suits all over the world thinking? Great gushes of wealth are spreading throughout the world (while still filling the bank accounts of those crafty slithering amoral freaks on top), enough to create ever-new markets of masses ravenous for the latest manifestations of "wealth"...based almost entirely on financial structures without a solid material base. The international financial system reaches a point of deep crisis, thanks to the need to fill the market with a glut of baseless credit...and the central banks simply shrug it all off, saying no problem, here's another 30 billion here, another 35 billion there. Huh? Do they have secret warehouses of this shit?
"A faith based economy". God help us.
3 comments:
Yo Tom! I wonder if you've read any of Sam Harris' works lately. He's one of those "new atheist" authors that have been having some success of late (Dawkins, Dennet, and so forth). I was watching a couple debates between him and various moderate religious figures recently, so dropping by here and seeing your post was cool.
I hope all is well.
Jeff
Yeah Jeff, I've read Harris' "The End of Faith" and "Letter to A Christian Nation"...great stuff, good arguments. Also Dawkins and Dennet and even Hitchens (he's regained some of my respect)...They do make one feel less alone, less utterly frustrated. It's curious to read the critics. Even the more progressive ones can't avoid the typical of move of referring to a "new atheist system" or belief...you know, how the lack of faith in a "god" somehow places one on yet another fanatical side to yet another two-sided polemic. You know the move - supposed "objectivity" places all "argument" or position on one side of some polar range. Bullshit, and Dawkins is especially good at disposing with this logical fallacy...Have you followed Stanley Fish's columns in the NY Times online concerning faith and the "new atheists"? He, of course, respects faith, or "people of faith"...wish we could sit around some beers and go on at more length...
yeah, they are doing a pretty good job. I kinda like that Harris is even interested in non-ordinary states of consciousness induced by drugs, meditation, and so forth, and the potential of such states to transform our awareness. Not real common among the rationalist crowd, and he does it without buying into the newage bs so prevalent in "non-traditional" religious circles nowadays.
As for beers, that would be great. Maybe some day soon I'll be able to make it out to Spain. I'm working on landing a job at present. I managed to get a couple interviews, which is something of an accomplishment in my area at this point, especially without a postdoc under my belt. One was at UC Riverside, the other at SUNY Stony Brook. Both good schools. Kinda strange to think of me on Long Island, eh? Riverside is more to my liking, I think, but it's part of the whole LA urban sprawl, so not perfect. Oh well, it's a short hop from many family and friends, the beach, mountains, and so forth, so, could be doable if I get the offer. We'll see.
Jeff
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