I am not meaning to knock your beliefs, I am trying to understand them. I was not comparing you to astrologists, I was simply using them as one of many examples of the flaws of faith. Don’t take it personal. I am asking you to explain your beliefs to me, while at the same time explaining my beliefs to you. You’ve claimed that faith and science are mutually supportive, but you haven’t shown how.
Perhaps we are using different definitions of the words. What is your definition of faith? To me, faith is a default position to fall back on when one is unable to prove something. In other words: something is true because I believe it to be, even though I can’t prove it. I fail to see how me believing that something is true has any bearing on whether or not it is actually true.
I can have faith that the earth is flat or that the sun revolves around the earth or that 1+1=3, but science will dispute those faiths.
I can have faith that the earth is round or that the earth revolves around the sun or that 1+1=2, but science transforms those faiths into facts. Once my “faiths” are proven as facts, faith no longer serves a purpose. Faith is not needed for facts, because.. well.. they are facts. They are true whether I believe them or not.
[quote=Allan from Fallbrook]There is a divine “spark” in all of us, an undeniable yearning to know, which is what confirms the existence of God, since that quest for knowledge is a desire to unite with our creator.[/quote]
Are you arguing that human desire for knowledge is proof of God? Maybe there’s a simpler answer. Maybe our quest for knowledge is an evolutionary mechanism for increasing our chances of survival. eg: our knowledge of agricultural techniques didn’t arise because of some spiritual “spark” within humanity. It arose because we needed more food in order to survive as a growing population.
Like religion, I believe that curiosity is a biological tool used to help us cope and survive in a very dangerous world and universe. I will agree with you that we have a special yearning to know and understand our place in the cosmos, but I believe that this is a fundamental part of our survival rather than a quest to get closer to our supposed creator.
