Why is belief necessary?

Phatboy states,

quote:

---

Not everything in your life is going to be so simple that you can triumph over it with your reasoning mind.

---

In fact, the more complex the issue, the more we need to rely on some measure of rational contemplation. The easy way out is to construct an edifice of dogma that can't be examined or questioned, and to pretend that this is knowledge of reality.If you're going to accuse us of scientism, by which I mean the act of inappropriately applying scientific criteria to a phenomenon, then you'll have to show us your methodology for understanding things on a non-rational basis. If you have such a methodology, then we should hear about it. However, if you just want your ideas to be exempt from potentially damaging criticism, then maybe they don't deserve to be aired in public in the first place.regards,
Esteban Hambre

HangDawg says,

quote:

---

Simply because you do not believe God is a real entity does not make it so. And yes I realize simply because I DO believe God is a real entity that does not make it so.

---

Well, that's very magnanimous of you. However, you assume that it's a level philosophical playing field only because you expect us to believe that God is a real entity is a valid position in the first place.We atheists are handicapped by our avowed reliance on rational, consistent application of logic. I fully admit that there are many phenomena we don't scientifically understand, but I don't assume that the key to these mysteries will involve the wholesale disposal of evidential empirical inquiry.It's the believer who is unrestrained by the need to be objective or reasonable. He asserts that reality is whatever he understands it to be, and resents any criticism of his beliefs. It's as if the rest of the world were showing the utmost bad taste by expecting believers to conform to the same rules of human discourse as everyone else.regards,
Esteban Hambre