Q: If faith is truth without proof, how does anyone come to any conclusion when every conceivable conclusion is just as likely?

Because, of course, every conceivable conclusion is not just as likely.

In most cases, “faith” is what leads people to accept that the doctrine they were specifically taught from a young age is truth, meaning that only one conclusion is possible. It’s why if somebody is raised, say, a Southern Baptist, they will have faith that the God worshiped by Southern Baptists exists and that he is as Southern Baptists have described and that he wants us to do (and not do) all the things mentioned in Southern Baptist interpretations of the Bible. And it’s why Muslims and Mormons and Jehovah’s witnesses and Hindus and members of many other religions will all manage to “know” that their particular religions are true, despite the fact that their “faith” is indistinguishable from that held by members of completely different religions.

Faith is basically a condition of believing something so hard that you convince yourself it must be true and that you therefore somehow have knowledge of its truth instead of mere belief. Sometimes this is simply a matter of wishful thinking — wanting it to be true so badly that you convince yourself that it is true. Other times, however, it is due to experiencing some strong emotional state that you think must be some sort of “spiritual witness” from God rewarding you for your belief and confirming the truth of that belief.

“Faith,” in other words, has nothing to do with discovering the truth and everything to do with confirming that what you already believe (or what you have been taught) is the truth. As a result, the only possible conclusion is the one you already believe to be true.

[More Maude & Eugene cartoons can be found at The Ongoing Adventures of “Maude and Eugene”.]

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