Faith vs. Fact

I’m often amazed that “faith” is considered a valid opinion. Faith is the belief in something without any proof. Fact is a conclusion supported by proof. They are opposites. If you have faith, you ignore facts. If you have facts, you don’t need faith.

Consider this: Which would be more likely to sway your opinion? If I were to say that I believe the earth goes around the sun, or if I were to say that I can prove the earth goes around the sun?

Obviously, fact is better. If people could prove god was real, they would prove it. They can’t so they default to faith.

What bothers me, is why everyone accepts this cop out? If you can’t prove something, you are probably wrong. If you CAN prove something, you must be right. Not all theories are equal. Not all ideas are correct. Some are simply wrong. When confronted with evidence that you are wrong, you can do one of two things. First, you can take the mature route, and reevaluate your opinions. Incorporate the new facts and come up with a new theory that fits within the evidence. The second option is to ignore the evidence and continue to believe a lie.

That’s what faith is. People want to believe a lie so badly, that they can’t admit to being wrong. They have based their whole sense of self on this lie, so admitting that they were incorrect changes who they think they are. It’s quite sad, really. It would be like if someone proved that I couldn’t grow a beard. My beard makes me who I am. Without it, I feel naked and alone. Broken.

Faith is a security blanket for the broken. The flawed. The deficient. Another point is that those who have facts are better able to accept new facts, even if the new facts discount their theories. Recently a study came out that showed minimal alcoholic intake did not affect pregnancy. I had always thought that any alcoholic intake during pregnancy could cause permanent defects on the fetus. The new facts proved me wrong. So you know what I did? I changed my theory from “you should never drink while pregnant”, to “you can drink while pregnant, but you probably shouldn’t.” The new theory fits all the evidence.

Faith is for stupid people. Facts are for smart people. Pick a side. And don’t let stupid people win.