Last week, one of our contributors wrote an excellent article entitled, “Faith vs. Reason”. Undoubtedly scientists create a false polarity by opposing faith with reason, particularly when so many scientific theories require a large measure of faith. As Thomas well pointed out, the religiously-minded who extract reason from faith often substitute feelings/emotion. These supposedly indicate or manifest human spirituality. If human spirituality is either defined as or confined to those terms, what makes us different than any other creature which manifests those feelings/emotions?
Tag: reason
Religion vs Atheism. Creation vs Evolution. Science vs Religion. Many of the great debates today are phrased in the context of Faith vs Reason. It is assumed that faith and reason are incompatible opposites. Caricatures of both sides are often accepted as fact. Atheists are seen as having of no faith in anything besides themselves, living sad and worthless lives. The religious are seen as having no capacity for reason, blindly believing the words in an ancient book, living sad and worthless lives. Neither view seems to be particularly useful as a starting point in a genuine discussion. As such this article will seek to reframe the discussion. Are faith and reason truly opposite viewpoints, opposing frameworks from which to view the world? Are they mutually exclusive concepts?