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I agree that it's time to make concerted effort to decouple the word faith from hope.
However the word "pretending" seems to me to not quite be adequate enough for a new definition of faith.
Most theists would be confused with the choice of this word and reject it by claiming that they "know" the things that they know and that there's no pretending at all. To use the word pretending could immediately make the person of religious faith feel that they are being labeled as intentionally disingenuous about their faith and that they know very well that their faith behavior is not based on fact.
Would they not see it as an attack on them rather than a proper definition of what faith is ?
Would a better definition be.....Faith: "Claiming" to know things that they don't know. ?
Permalink Tue, 22 May 2012 13:28:50 UTC | #942819