It's a recurring theme in US elections. Our would-be leaders strut around proclaiming their faith in god. They talk of the importance he has in their lives, the closeness they feel to him. They tell us they are comforted by his strength in difficult times. They talk about seeking his guidance when making important decisions. They proudly proclaim that they worship him. They tell us, in short that the-would be leaders of the strongest country in the world rely on imaginary friends in leading that country.
The fact that these men proclaim their faith in an adult version of Santa Clause (old man who lives “up there, somewhere”, gives nice things to those who do what he likes and nothing at all or unpleasant things to the rest, is receptive – though in no discernable way – to petitions of favor, doesn’t exists) doesn’t make them look like idiots, it somehow makes them good leaders in the eyes of the electorate. Which I’m sad to say doesn’t say much for that portion of the electorate.
The current president is the prime example. He has faith, strong faith in his god. He had faith, strong faith in Hussein’s WMD. You see, he has learned that faith is much easier than thought. You read something you like, you hear something from someone you accept as an authority, or you simply make something up from whole cloth and then have faith. That’s all. No difficult stuff like looking for and analyzing evidence, no considering dissenting opinions, no testing of theories. Nothing rational at all. Just plain faith.
Of course people of faith will say can be difficult to keep the faith. There will be tests of faith all around which must be resisted and that resistance requires great strength. Much like an alcoholic who, despite the mounting evidence like losing his job, passing out at the bar for the fourth time this week, and spending the rent on booze once again continues to have faith that he doesn’t have a problem. That’s what faith is, believing that something is true despite the lack of supporting evidence and / or in the face of evidence to the contrary. Believing something to be true because of the evidence is called knowledge.
Wouldn’t it be nice if the POTUS would take action based on knowledge rather than faith?
News
Faith Without Fealty (washingtonpost.com)
