Disbelief is not an assertion. Disbelief is the LACK of belief, amigo. You said it yourself--the burden of proof rests upon whomever asserts the belief.
I think you are right Red and this is my reasoning. Is there belief vs disbelief or is there belief vs belief in something else? Or the same with faith also? This back and forth between Tiger in NC and Red has to do with two words. Belief and Faith. These words are similar but different. To me, belief is an opinion or judgement backed up by some form of reasoning. Faith takes belief and puts it to the test. For example: I can believe in God because of 'xyz statement'. I will read the bible, go to church, and live my life accordingly because I have faith that my beliefs are right and they will be fulfilled. I can believe that if I point my rocket ship in that direction of the sky that I will hit a wormhole and travel through time because of 'xyz statement'. I will build a rocket ship and launch myself out there because I have faith that my beliefs are right and they will be fulfilled. Either way, I can be wrong but I still have belief and faith. If I choose to do nothing with those beliefs (not follow the bible, etc...and not build a rocket ship, etc... I only believe but I don't have faith that it will be fulfilled. To believe in God, you have to have faith or it is all for naught. To be an atheist, it does not require faith because there is no end reward. An atheist stops at belief.
I am an agnostic, as I have said before, so I do not have a dog in this fight so to speak. IMO being an agnostic is the only intellectually honest position to take because there is indeed no proof one way or another. That said, only the believers and the atheists express certainty about their positions and neither have the evidence to support that certainty.
Mancha, respectfully your definitions of these closely mirror that of classic theological teachings. Christians especially like to separate these two meanings as if belief were something you can do from a church pew but faith requires one to get up and go evangelize the earth. In fact, one can have belief that God exists without the nuisance of man-made religion and their charge to make one's faith an action. Deists exercise a belief in God without the "faith" part of which you speak. By the classic definition of belief, it is synonymous with faith, as I have shown below. With this knowledge let's reduce it down to one word: faith. Faith is defined as the complete trust or confidence in someone or something. I hope you would agree that the "complete trust or confidence" that they speak of could also be called certainty. Having faith in something means that you cannot prove it but you believe in it so much that you are certain of your own correctness. This is what I mean when I say that Atheists have just as much faith as Believers. Both are certain of their correctness and both lack the goods to prove their correctness. be·lief bəˈlēf/ noun 1. an acceptance that a statement is true or that something exists. "his belief in the value of hard work" 2. trust, faith, or confidence in someone or something. "a belief in democratic politics" synonyms:faith, trust, reliance, confidence, credence "belief in the value of hard work"
what does spirituality and faith mean. that seems to be the preferred phrase for many who are religious but dont want the stigma of religion. i dont know what i am so i guess thats me too.
I am an agnostic, as I have said before, so I do not have a God in this fight so to speak. IMO being an agnostic is the only intellectually honest position to take because there is indeed no proof one way or another. That said, only the believers and the atheists express certainty about their positions and neither have the evidence to support that certainty. fify
Perhaps they do. I have heard more than one sermon in my life regarding belief and faith. It is very explicit. But, I also tied in a real world example. Here is another: I believe the Cowboys are going to beat the Redskins by 21 points on Monday night. Because The Boys offense is healthy and firing on all cylinders. The defense has stopped better offenses. Plus, Colt McCoy is starting at QB for the Skins and they have been struggling. How much faith do I have in that belief? Would I bet $100 dollars? Hell no. All I have is a belief, no action (faith). Just as a persons ass ain't getting into heaven just because they declare "I believe in God" What are they willing to do to get there? How are they willing to live their lives? What faith are they putting behind that belief. Science also distinguishes faith from belief in much the same way. Scientific experimentation tests belief, not faith. Belief is a component of faith but not its equal despite it being used the same way in everyday language. Hope is also a synonym of faith. I would not equate belief with hope.
I'm not sure there is a distinction between the meanings of the two words except whatever a person may have come to assign some semantic separation of the words. For example a child has a belief that his parents will take care of him and also has the faith that he is taken care of and protected by his parents. But if I am going fishing I may have a belief that I will catch fish that day but fishing being what fishing is and knowing the fickle nature of fish I don't have absolute faith that I will catch fish no matter how favorable the conditions appear to be. I'm not familiar with the word "Deist" but I suppose I could be leaning in that direction. I have a want to believe that a Supreme Being exists but I can't find it in myself to have absolute faith the there is. An atheist would have the belief that there is nothing that exists beyond his own experiences but I'm not so sure the word faith would apply to his non belief.
