Hi Platt --
> You assert: > >> Faith is belief in anything without empirical evidence, and that includes >> the MoQ which carries its own baggage of dogma. > > What is the empirical evidence for your belief that faith is what you say > it is? Seems to me you are asserting a premise that is > self-contradictory -- > a premise unsupported by empirical evidence -- and thus is based on faith. > Your assertion seems to carry its own baggage of dogma. The empirical evidence for the meaning of a word is its use in communicating a thought or concept to others. Dictionaries define common word usage. According to my Websters New Collegiate Dictionary, Faith is "1a: allegiance to duty or a person, 1b: fidelity to one's promises; 2a: belief and trust in and loyalty to God, 2b: firm belief in something for which there is no proof." So I don't see how you can challenge what you or I, Steve or Ian, mean by Faith. The point I was trying to make is that faith itself is not a bad thing, and that ending or eradicating it would be denying the spirituality of man upon which all conviction and trust is based. Thus, if you believe in individual freedom, patriotism, the sanctity of human life, and moral goodness, they are part of a faith-based philosophy which makes Platt Holden a man of integrity and moral character. On the other hand, if you are indoctrinated into a culture that subordinates your freedom and behavior to the will of a divine being which demands total submission to the words of a 7th century prophet, you have lost your individuality as a rational, self-directed human being. As Hirsi Ali says, "that is immoral". That, my good friend, is the evil we are fighting in the Islamic world. We should not conflate it with "faith", "theism", or even "religious intolerance" which is really a form of discrimination. Incidentally, while I've got your attention, you haven't responded to my off-line request for your home address so that I can send you the book I'd promised. In case that message wasn't received, you can contact me at [EMAIL PROTECTED] Best regards, Ham Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
