Re: Is religion harmful?
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It seems you are incorporating probability
I am?
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If I misunderstood, and you admit your beliefs have nothing to do with probabilities, then never mind.
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Miracles don't occur. They are performed.
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Was this quip just a filler to make your response look fuller? Once a miracle has been performed, it can be said to have , ocurred right? This type of stuff is going to make a liar out of me for saying you don't troll.
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Faith is involved on both sides, but evidence is also involved. Can you admit that?
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Of course, I'll admit that. Absolutely. Without question. Our only problem is that we are worlds away for just how much weight such evidence should be given.
I make the odds of a sea actually ever spontaneously parting at 5 quintillion to 1. And... I'll concede that the bible is in fact evidence of this, and am willing to reduce those odds to about 4.9 quintillion to 1.
The thing is, starting at 5 quintillion to 1, I'm going to need something a little more weighty than a 2000 year old book written by mortal men, in order to persuade me this actually happened. But I'm telling right now that I don't think it's impossible. I definitely don't put the odds at zero.
[edit:] I define faith as something you believe "despite" insufficient evidence or evidence to the contrary. For instance, if I choose to believe my wife will be faithful in the future, despite her being unfaithful in the past, then I am placing my "faith" in her that she will be faithful from here on out. This is different than believing the light will go on when I flick the 'on' switch. That's not faith. That's a rational belief based on prior results and evidence.
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