From: DRAGONFLY           
To: TURTLE              
Subject: relig & logic??
Date & Time: 05/12/91 22:42:37
Message Number 16776

> I've seen religious discussions that are put together in the same way
> as logical discussions, but there's always gonna be that leap of 
> faith buried in there somewhere.... try as you might to conceal it....
      
     O H ,   P L E A S E ! ! !  Spare me, Turtle.  I thought you were
much more intelligent than that.  Do you REALLY think it's possible to
have a discussion -- ANY discussion -- without some sort of faith?
Even if it's called a "shared world view" (which presupposes that 
reality exists, and that we usually perceive it correctly) there's a
leap of faith.  There was a leap of faith when you sat down on the
chair you're sitting in.  (Even if you've sat in it thousands of times
before, inductive reasoning proves nothing.)
     
   All of mathematics depends on "leaps of faith."  And frequently,
mathematicians disagree about those "leaps of faith," or axioms. 
Because all physical sciences depend on mathematics, those leaps of 
faith find their way into just about everything.
    
   Well, what's the difference between these mathematical axioms and
religious axioms?   Only one thing: verifiability.  There's nothing
wrong with leaps of faith. Period.
                        //Dragonfly//