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journeyman
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journeyman
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 69 |
Maverick,
Thanks for that - but my contention rests on the connotations and not the denotations. The reporter's use of the term "purest faith" certainly adds punch to the "belief not based on evidence" definition - such terms are used when speaking of religion and not economics. While it may be argued, perhaps successfully ;-), that money is the US' religion, I don't think that was the context in which she was writing.
Certainly, the "faith of a mustard seed needed to move a mountain" is a far less tangible thing than the confidence in a very large earth-mover to accomplish the same thing. (sidebar - ever see one of those monsters?? They're friggin huge, and to call them "bulldozers" is like calling the Grand Canyon a "big valley".)
Cheers,
Bryan
Cheers,
Bryan
You are only wretched and unworthy if you choose to be.
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 618
addict
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addict
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 618 |
And where do the French fit into all of this?
[hoping-people-understand-the-very-poor-pun-emoticon]
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 1,094
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 1,094 |
I'm not sure how much this will help in this little discussion, but I read an interesting debate a few days ago on the existence of God ( http://members.truepath.com/CICweb/debate_Russell_index.html) and the negative defined 8 ways that we decide things. He said in order of importance they were logic, reason, confidence, trust, chance, obedience, hope and faith. He later went on to say that if you want to cross a 3-lane highway during rush hour you could use some of these methods: (1) Reason. Look before crossing, believe the evidence of your eyes, and don't go until you see a break in the traffic (or until congestion brings it to a complete standstill).
(2) Trust. Accept my personal testimony that it will be safe to cross between 4:56:09 and 4:56:21 PM and go then.
(3) Faith. Eliminate all sensory input (too distracting for the truly faithful). Instead, plug your ears with wax, close your eyes and apply a blindfold, and just step out smartly at some random time, having faith that God will enable you to cross unscathed.This probably has nothing to do with this discussion, but it does show that there's quite a difference between confidence and faith.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Thank you, Max!
[applause-e]
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Posts: 4,757
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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As someone whose existence is wrapped up in his complete lack of 'faith' as an adherence to a creed, but rather a 'faith' in the perfectability of my fellow poissons, I applaud Max's humanity. I like Jazz's statement of that argument - but ultimately I think it has the meretricous appeal of much reductio ad absurdum argument.
However, it does, I agree, tend to illuminate a difference in the ways we tend to think about these different kinds of confidence or belief or hope or....
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Just a few loaves, and thee beside me in the wildernesss... 
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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journeyman
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OP
journeyman
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 69 |
This example is very pertinent, and clearly demonstrates the difference between faith and confidence.
Cheers,
Bryan
Cheers,
Bryan
You are only wretched and unworthy if you choose to be.
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