I have written to express this opinion before, that faith is the rejection of reason. Today I want to add some revealing quotations on the topic that I recently came across:
From the horse's mouth, as they say. Apparently, even religious people, when they are being honest (which isn't often), know perfectly well and admit that faith is the rejection of reason.
In more recent times, however, this position has become untenable because "reason" as an ideal has become more popular. Thus, you will often meet modern religious people who will deny that reason and faith are incompatible.
Usually, what they mean, however, is that reason and logic can and do function normally even if the existence of god is taken as a given--an assumed fact. This is, to an extent, true. The rules of logic will still work the same. Any conclusions reached, however, will not be reliable because, as I explained before, reasoning is unsound if based on false factual assumptions. Therefore, until the religious can prove that their god's existence is a fact, the assumption of it as a fact renders all reasoning that follows an exercise in futility--or worse.
In other words, the acceptance of a factual premise that is not a fact violates the most basic precepts of logic.
How do we know whether or not a suggested premise is a fact? Simple, apply the rules of logic to it before assuming it is a fact.
"Reason is the Devil’s greatest whore; by nature and manner of being she is a noxious whore; she is a prostitute, the Devil’s appointed whore; whore eaten by scab and leprosy who ought to be trodden under foot and destroyed, she and her wisdom… Throw dung in her face to make her ugly. She is and she ought to be drowned in baptism…" --Martin Luther
"For reason is the greatest enemy that faith has: it never comes to the aid of spiritual things, but – more frequently than not – struggles against the Divine Word, treating with contempt all that emanates from God." --Martin Luther
From the horse's mouth, as they say. Apparently, even religious people, when they are being honest (which isn't often), know perfectly well and admit that faith is the rejection of reason.
In more recent times, however, this position has become untenable because "reason" as an ideal has become more popular. Thus, you will often meet modern religious people who will deny that reason and faith are incompatible.
Usually, what they mean, however, is that reason and logic can and do function normally even if the existence of god is taken as a given--an assumed fact. This is, to an extent, true. The rules of logic will still work the same. Any conclusions reached, however, will not be reliable because, as I explained before, reasoning is unsound if based on false factual assumptions. Therefore, until the religious can prove that their god's existence is a fact, the assumption of it as a fact renders all reasoning that follows an exercise in futility--or worse.
In other words, the acceptance of a factual premise that is not a fact violates the most basic precepts of logic.
How do we know whether or not a suggested premise is a fact? Simple, apply the rules of logic to it before assuming it is a fact.
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