Only Reason Leads to Truth -- Not Faith

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. --Hebrews 11:1



Throughout the existence of humanity, the search for truth has branched off into two main paths '" faith and reason. In many circles and pockets of society, faith is considered a far more valuable virtue than reason. Churches such as the Sabbath Church of God claim that God requires us to have faith in Him. Although faith may have helped our ancestors thousands of years ago, it has no place in making major decisions in modern society.



Although there are several definitions for the word "faith", let's just stick with the definition given in the verse from Hebrews. Faith requires you to believe in the unbelievable, without proof and without logic. Reason, however, requires proof and your own logic in order to help you make decisions.



Why Faith Sucks



Abraham, the mythical father of the Jews, is considered a paragon of this type of faith. When God commands him to sacrifice his only son, Isaac, Abraham does so without hesitation. People of faith point out that Isaac was eventually spared, but that's not the point '" the point is that Abraham sacrificed his reason because of blind faith.



And this is sort of behavior condoned in all three of the big religions '" Judaism, Christianity and Islam (where Abraham is also considered the father of the Arabs.) When I was a Born Again Christian, I was taught that I should show faith in God like Abraham did. Fortunately, I never had any children during the time I was a Christian.

Another instance of blind faith was the Jonestown Massacre of The People's Temple in Guyana in 1978. At the command of their charismatic (and insane) leader Jim Jones, 909 people drank poisoned Kool Aid. Those who refused were shot. Even pets were killed. Blind faith -- faith without the filtering of reason -- leads to bad Kool Aid every time.

So, What's the Big Deal?



Faith is the reason why Islamic extremists blow people and things up. They have faith that their actions will be rewarded eternally. Climate change deniers have faith that there will always be resources for them, despite all of the evidence, and so they keep on their wasteful ways that their children will have to pay for. Creationists refuse to accept the visual evidence of evolution and/or the Big Bang on the sole reason that it conflicts with their faith "of things not seen."



Faith is cancerous when it kills others, causes suffering, dictates public policy and stifles creative problem solving. In fundamentalist Christian churches, children are taught that God will answer all of their problems if they only have enough faith. As a child being schooled in Church and at Delaware County Christian School, I was repeatedly told the parable of the mustard seed. If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could move mountains.



As a child, I had faith. But no mountains moved. I assumed I was sinful and was being punished. I self-flagellated myself for no reason whatsoever.



But now I use reason to make my decisions. I can figure out how to get from Point A to Point B without having to deal with any darn mountains or mustard seeds.



Reason Can Be Taxing



By using verifiable facts to make decisions on one's personal life, one knows they can achieve through their own efforts and not because of some faith deficit. Governments that make policies on reason rather than faith do their citizens a tremendous service. By using reason, you are forced to think. You are forced to get out of your comfort zone and risk having to toss very treasured concepts, habits and lifestyles.



As a species, we can no longer have faith that our planet's problems will be taken care of by God. We are facing a multitude of crises concerning the environment, wars, human overpopulation, uneducated youth and lack of drinking water. While the institutions that sell faith twiddle their thumbs and do not pay taxes, reasonable individuals work hard at finding solutions to our problems and pay taxes.



Blind faith causes more problems than solutions. It teaches people that they are helpless and that only an invisible man in the sky can save them. Faith limits.



Reason expands. Things not only need to be proved, but proved multiple times. If it can be proved multiple times, chances are pretty good that it's true. By learning to see and accept truths based on reason rather than faith, we can teach our children and our parents that they do have the power to change the world for the better.



References and Suggested Reading



King James Bible



Sabbath Church of God. "The Proclamation of Jesus Christ: Shall He Find Faith." http://www.childrenofgod.net/ShallHeFindFaith.htm



MSNBC. "People Became Trapped in the Madness." Stephen Stept. October 30, 2008. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27462642/ns/msnbc_tv-documentaries/t/people-became-trapped-madness/



"The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution." Richard Dawkins. Free Press; 2009.



"The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark." Carl Sagan. Ballantine Books; 1996.



Westboro Baptist Church Picket Schedule. http://www.godhatesfags.com/schedule.html



"A History of God." Karen Armstrong. Ballantine Books. 1993.



NASA. "Climate Change: Evidence." http://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/