On Thursday, August 7, 2003, at 12:37  AM, Christian Lheureux wrote:

> My € 0,02 on the debate :
>
> How can a reasonable person KNOW that God exists ? I would think a
> reasonable persons SUSPECTS God exists, or BELIEVES God exists. But 
> KNOW ?
> Whoaaaw, that would denote a level of knowledge that, frankly, I do not
> have. However, that should not be a problem for believers and 
> non-believers
> alike. After all, faith asks us to BELIEVE, not to KNOW.

This paragraph was very reasonable up until the last sentence.

Faith does not ask you to believe. A priest of some denomination of 
some church asks you to believe. Then, if you question the validity of 
those teachings, you are asked to use faith as the basis of your belief.

Like all people, I do have to rely on faith (and probabilities) in 
most, if not all, of my actions. I do this because there is no other 
more reliable option. It's all part of life. For example, every time we 
drive a car we risk being killed by a collision with some other car. 
But millions of us accept that risk daily and usually with success. 
Faith is necessary but only in those cases where there is no other 
option.

Many Catholic parents (like my sister Marian) had faith in the church 
and its priests and taught their children to have that same faith. A 
small minority of those children were molested and were frequently not 
believed when they attempted to tell their parents. A classic example 
of the unnecessary (or overly trustful) use of faith.

The following quote is for the benefit of all believers:

"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us 
with sense, reason and intellect has intended us to forgo their use."  
-  Galileo Galilei

FW

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