Comments on: Ingrid and Her Faith http://www.bythefault.com/2008/07/10/ingrid-and-her-faith/ seismic politics, earth-shattering economics and volcanic commentary Mon, 04 Jan 2010 13:20:14 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: bradk http://www.bythefault.com/2008/07/10/ingrid-and-her-faith/comment-page-1/#comment-741 bradk Fri, 11 Jul 2008 15:18:56 +0000 http://www.bythefault.com/?p=815#comment-741 I know it's a lot easier to deal with if people just keep their delusions to themselves--I certainly don't want to hear that crap--but is there any other reason to think that keeping one's faith to oneself is any better? I mean, if the personal, inward faith is more like that of your grandmother, SIMPLY about living a good moral life, then well ok. But isn't the inward faith likely to involve crap like talking to and hearing from a supernatural, non-existent being? But just not going on about it? (And an epistemic question--how would we ever know??) Maybe it's not--maybe you are assuming, not necessarily wrongly, that the real wacky stuff just can't be kept inside, but the less wacky stuff can. And maybe that's true. But if it isn't, and there are all these nuts running around keeping this crap to themselves, isn't that even worse? I've often wondered which is preferable--to live around an open and 'out' racist, who makes it quite clear the horrible things she thinks, or to live around a person with identical beliefs that just keeps them inside? In this case, it is plausible that the latter is worse, even. At least with the open racist, you can arm yourself against her (in the metaphorical sense). Another point. It would be interesting to comb the cases of religious experience just for factual errors similar to the one you point out with McKinley. This strikes me a pretty devastating criticism of any argument from religious experience! Thanks for this! I know it’s a lot easier to deal with if people just keep their delusions to themselves–I certainly don’t want to hear that crap–but is there any other reason to think that keeping one’s faith to oneself is any better? I mean, if the personal, inward faith is more like that of your grandmother, SIMPLY about living a good moral life, then well ok. But isn’t the inward faith likely to involve crap like talking to and hearing from a supernatural, non-existent being? But just not going on about it? (And an epistemic question–how would we ever know??) Maybe it’s not–maybe you are assuming, not necessarily wrongly, that the real wacky stuff just can’t be kept inside, but the less wacky stuff can. And maybe that’s true.

But if it isn’t, and there are all these nuts running around keeping this crap to themselves, isn’t that even worse? I’ve often wondered which is preferable–to live around an open and ‘out’ racist, who makes it quite clear the horrible things she thinks, or to live around a person with identical beliefs that just keeps them inside? In this case, it is plausible that the latter is worse, even. At least with the open racist, you can arm yourself against her (in the metaphorical sense).

Another point. It would be interesting to comb the cases of religious experience just for factual errors similar to the one you point out with McKinley. This strikes me a pretty devastating criticism of any argument from religious experience! Thanks for this!

]]> By: denise b http://www.bythefault.com/2008/07/10/ingrid-and-her-faith/comment-page-1/#comment-737 denise b Fri, 11 Jul 2008 05:32:45 +0000 http://www.bythefault.com/?p=815#comment-737 Well said. I'm so with you on this, and I'm always happy when people speak their minds about it. Thanks. Well said. I’m so with you on this, and I’m always happy when people speak their minds about it. Thanks.

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