ForgedinHell wrote:The fact that such religions as Christianity, Islam, Orthodox Judaism have no evidence to support their claims, results in this bizarre idea that faith is a virtue. As if someone who believes in something without evidence should be looked upon as wise and moral?
What is 'evidence'?
It's even worse. The faithful brag about their willingness to not only believe in things without evidence, but to believe in things despite evidence to the contrary. We know, for example, that evolution is a fact; yet, many faithful would rewrite evolution out of our science books and replace it with some "intelligent design" pseudoscience. How do you distinguish what is 'fact' from what is not 'fact'?
These religious people have chosen to throw their ability to reason on the chopping block, which is evil enough, but they often insist others do so as well. They invade our lives with such nonsense as Bible prophecy, that we now run the danger of electing a rube into high-office who will consider it to be a divine duty to start a nuclear holocaust. We are forbidden to engage in certain medical research because it may offend the sensibilities of these "virtuous" people, which causes a great deal of suffering. The first heart transplant was done with a baboon heart, and the young girl rejected the foreign tissue. When the doctor was asked why he didn't use a chimp heart instead, because a chimp is a closer relation to humans, which would have made the rejection of the heart less likely, the doctor responded with the statement that "evolution was just a theory." Maybe had the surgeon not been so ignorant, the young girl may have survived.
There is no way to live in a civilized world where a significant percentage of the population believes faith is a virtue.
Is not this very statement of yours a statement of faith? Do you not believe it is true?
How do you distinguish what is of 'faith' from what is not of 'faith'? It undermines all serious efforts to discover the truth about the world around us. It increases the likelihood of evil political movements, as ignorance is fascism becomes a truism throughout history. Any religion that teaches faith as a virtue should be shunned by any rational person. Faith is not a virtue; it is an evil that has wrecked enough havoc on the world. In the 21st century, for the human race to survive, such silliness can no longer be tolerated.