Faith In Science Vs Faith In Religion

[MagetheEntertainer]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lqnd6nf0PQ&list=UU7YOGHUfC1Tb6E4pudI9STA

A common argument among religious folks against us Atheist is that their faith in religion is the same as our faith in science.  While it is true that a small amount of faith is required to believe just about anything I explain in this video why faith in science simply isn't the same as faith in religion.

[Johan]

Absolutely zero faith is required to believe in science. Science draws conclusions from repeatable testing and those conclusions are ALWAYS subject to revision as new testing methods become available. Therefore science whenever science makes a claim about what is true, it is understood that what science is actually saying is this thing is true so far as we know right now and could change some time later.

[Solitary]

I can't say for all atheists, but I have trust in science, not faith.

[SGOS]

This is a straw man fallacy.  Science does not require faith.

Now thrown in the fallacy of equivocation.  Faith can be colloquially used to describe understanding the process of science, but it absolutely not the blind faith of religion.  It's not even in the same ball park.  It's something different entirely.

"Belief" is another word Christians love to equivocate.  When challenged, they like to ask, "Well, what do you believe?"  Yes secularists believe many things, but they don't necessarily shit their pants over some brain fart for which there is no evidence.

[josephpalazzo]

The uses and misuses of the word "faith". When I get up in the morning, I have "faith" that no meteorites will strike my house, or when my wife says that "breakfast is ready", it is. That's because there is little probability that a meteorite will strike my house, and there is a high probability that my wife is reliable. And I know this from past experience, which is a compilation of evidence. OTOH, when a theist says, "I have faith that God exists", he has no evidence to back up that faith. Just his misguided, gullible and naive perception.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

The uses and misuses of the word "faith". When I get up in the morning, I have "faith" that no meteorites will strike my house, or when my wife says that "breakfast is ready", it is. That's because there is little probability that a meteorite will strike my house, and there is a high probability that my wife is reliable. And I know this from past experience, which is a compilation of evidence. OTOH, when a theist says, "I have faith that God exists", he has no evidence to back up that faith. Just his misguided, gullible and naive perception.

I have "faith" that aeronautical engineers know what they're doing. I flew to DC and back last week, didn't die in a crash. My "faith" is informed and can be altered when presented by new information.

[stromboli]

Hey, faith can move mountains. As long as you've got heavy equipment and explosives.

[josephpalazzo]

 

Hey, faith can move mountains. As long as you've got heavy equipment and explosives.

At the end of this thought process is that people have gathered evidence on how to work that equipment and explosives to achieve the desired effect - move mountains. In fact, we all do that when we act out on every day details.  You're sick, you go see a doctor, your teeth hurt, you go see a dentist, and so on, all those are acts of faith but based on a mountain of evidence. It's only when it comes to God and religion that people somehow go against this deeper thought process, and why they can't answer the question, where's the evidence. Suddenly, they start to obfuscate, even to the point of negating their own inclinations. They can't step out of their own cornered thoughts and see how ridiculous they have suddenly become. 

[Solitary]

Faith is trust in God with no reliable evidence, Faith in science is trust in science with reliable evidence.  I have faith no gods, or God, exists because there is no reliable evidence, and how can I have faith in something that doesn't exist? 

[sdelsolray]

Like many words, the word "faith" has more than one definition.  Indeed, the various definitions are quite different from each other - so much so that when using this word "faith", it's easy to get confused, it's easy to equivocate and it's easy to miscommunicate.

[stromboli]

Like many words, the word "faith" has more than one definition.  Indeed, the various definitions are quite different from each other - so much so that when using this word "faith", it's easy to get confused, it's easy to equivocate and it's easy to miscommunicate.

Faith:

1.
complete trust or confidence in someone or something.
"this restores one's faith in politicians"
synonyms:   trust, belief, confidence, conviction; More
antonyms:   mistrust
2.
strong belief in God or in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof.
synonyms:   religion, church, sect, denomination, (religious) persuasion, (religious) belief, ideology, creed, teaching, doctrine
"she gave her life for her faith"

Are you speaking like, metaphorically?

[MagetheEntertainer]

I used the word "faith" instead of "trust" just for the sake of comparison and the title.  I wouldn't really say that I have faith in science since the level of trust and repeated positive results puts it beyond that which puts it at the level of trust.

[Hydra009]

I used the word "faith" instead of "trust" just for the sake of comparison and the title.  I wouldn't really say that I have faith in science since the level of trust and repeated positive results puts it beyond that which puts it at the level of trust.

Then I would suggest using trust instead in the future.  The word faith has a very strong association with religious blind belief and using it in another sense can be confusing or misleading.

[Munch]

I'd agree with sdelsolray on this, I think all down to context is how its used really. The same could be said when someone says they 'trust in god', as however you could say you have faith in your doctornot implying god but just in the person.

Still, I can understand it being a negative connotation, or something a christian would use against you to 'prove' you believe in gawd. 

[Drummer Guy]

A common argument among religious folks against us Atheist is that their faith in religion is the same as our faith in science.

You are correct, this is a terrible argument by theists.  But it's worth noting that many of the more educated theists won't make this kind of argument.  It tends to be a blue collar Christian who heard it from someone else and doesn't really understand the semantics.

It's also worth noting that many atheists also define faith wrong when it comes to religion.  I often hear atheists say that faith is "belief without evidence" when that's not what the word faith means in theology.