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Old 04-01-2011, 03:24 PM   #119
blankall
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Quote:
Originally Posted by troutman View Post
Is Atheism an Ism? Atheism is No Religion, Philosophy, Ideology, Belief System
http://atheism.about.com/od/definiti...smReligion.htm

http://www.skepdic.com/faith.html

There are reasons for trusting science and there are reasons for religious convictions, but the reasons for our trust in science are called evidence and the reasons for our religious convictions all reduce to hope.

Physicist Bob Park explains this difference in a way even the most devious casuist should understand. The Oxford Concise English Dictionary, he notes, gives two distinct meanings for faith:
"1) complete trust or confidence, and 2) strong belief in a religion based on spiritual conviction rather than proof." A scientist's "faith" is built on experimental proof. The two meanings of the word "faith," therefore, are not only different, they are exact opposites.*
Science admits that nothing can ever truly be proven with 100% certainty. Therefore, every priciple requires a degree of belief. Some require more than others, but that does not make them seperate concepts.

The difference between the two definitions provided are just opposite ends of a spectrum. They're both most certainly ideologies though.
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