The Whys of Evolution

GDR,Suppose I were to declare the non-existence of chess-playing flying pigs, would that be an act of faith?The problem with your statement (quoted above) is that it is logically impossible to have proof of the non-existence of something. That makes your conclusion ("therefore it becomes an 'act of faith' ...") unwarranted.Furthermore, proponents of the naturalist explanation of evolution do not rule out the existence of an intelligent designer. They only point out that there is no real evidence for such, so that they see no reason to assume its existence. What they perform is what you might call "an act of non-faith"Only when someone assumes the existence of something without any evidence to support that assumption, can one say that an act of faith is involved.

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We are all atheists about most of the gods that humanity has ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further. - Richard Dawkins

I disagree. Most Christians and Muslims are born that way, or rather, the decision is made for them by the community they are born into. Try and be born in Saudi-Arabia and not be raised a Muslim. Having failed that, try making a conscious decision not to be a Muslim anymore, but still continuing to live in your Muslim community. See what I mean?In some Christian communities it is not much different.As for atheists, the very word should tell you that they do not require an act of faith to come to be one. It's a lack of belief that distinguishes atheists from religious people.

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We are all atheists about most of the gods that humanity has ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further. - Richard Dawkins

No. Atheism is not a belief. It's a lack of belief. It's what you end up with if you don't see any convincing evidence for whatever people tell you they believe in. Do you believe in the Hindu pantheon? I don't, because there is no evidence such a pantheon exists, so there's no reason for me to believe in it. Same thing with the Christian God. Same thing with any god or gods. I do not believe in a god of any kind. That's what atheism means. It seems I cannot stress it enough: it's not a belief. I wonder what that's like, "kids being taught Atheism". Must be a very short curriculum: "OK kids, listen. There is no god. That's it. See you at graduation."No, but seriously, I agree with you that it would be a good idea to tell students about all kinds of religions and other schools of thought, and science as well. They will find out what works for them. But they should be taught well, meaning no hidden agenda's or pseudo-science in science class and no pretention of science in religious class.

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We are all atheists about most of the gods that humanity has ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further. - Richard Dawkins