Where did you find that definition of "belief," A_perfect_lady? Might you possibly have made it up yourself?
Merriam-Webster defines "belief" thusly:
1: a state or habit of mind in which trust or confidence is placed in some person or thingDear A_perfect_lady, you seem to be laboring under an unshakeable presupposition: that faith ("belief") and reason are mutually-exclusive. Yet to me, they are necessarily interdependent, existing as complementarities in dynamic relation.2: something believed; especially : a tenet or body of tenets held by a group [e.g., Darwinists :^)]
3: conviction of the truth of some statement or the reality of some being or phenomenon especially when based on examination of evidence
It turns out all of science itself is premised on the "belief" that the world is so intelligibly ordered that the human mind can understand it. Absent this "belief," science couldn't even get started.
Of course, "science" these days doesn't ask, "Why is the world intelligibly ordered in the first place?" It doesn't ask that question, because to answer it, it would be necessary to step entirely "outside" of the "scientific method" — there are no "direct observables" here. But that does not mean there is no evidence here; it only means that the type of evidence available is not suitably "computable" or "metric" for science to "process" according to its method.
That is to say, not everything that exists "reduces" to scientific measurement!!!
A religion that cannot encompass science is not worthy the name, while a science that cannot be reconciled with religion is not fit for human beings. And I mean this literally, in that it will be a science that applies to a different species, not the one that is made to know love, truth, beauty, existence, and the Absolute. Science must begin and end in this principle — which is to say, the Principle — or it is just a diversion. Nevertheless, Stupidity appropriates what science invents with diabolical facility....You strenuously maintain (against all reason, it seems) that atheism is ***NOT*** a belief system! Okay. So let's call it a "non-belief" system: YOU STILL BELIEVE IN IT!!! In "the name of reason," you are nonetheless forced into "the position of faith"....
In our effort to demonstrate the essential unity of religion and science, we specifically want to avoid the superficial and metaphysically incoherent approach of the materialists, which essentially reduces to magic — no different than the young earth creationist who sees God as a kind of magician. But creation is not magic; rather, it is thoroughly rooted in, and infused with, order and Reason. Yes, there are myths that describe creation as if it were a giant magic act, but the purpose of myth is to awaken Truth within, not to force consent from without. [Robert Godwin]
Well, just some thoughts FWTW.
Pardon my asking, but is that by any chance *the* Godwin? (ironic name, given the thread, eh?)
Cheers!
Pardon my asking, but is that by any chance *the* Godwin of "Godwin's Law" fame? (ironic name, given the thread, eh?)
Cheers!