Atheism is not the opposite of Biblical literalism. An atheist is one who lacks belief in gods. It implies nothing else, including beliefs regarding the origin of the cosmos. An atheist can throw their hands up and say, "I just don't know." and still be an atheist.
To me, "faith" is a good word to describe the situation where one stands firm in his belief while refusing to consider rebuttals. I prefer the word because it does not characterize motive. Alternative words that come to mind are judgmental: pigheaded, obstinate, unyielding, mulish. Do you have a better, non-judgmental word to describe that phenomenon?
595 posted on 11/23/2003 7:42:52 PM PST by Alamo-Girl