@The Last Cathedral,
No, not really?faith implies certitude even where there is no evidence or proof ; whereas belief is conviction of the truth based on examination of evidence (belief can be used as a synonym of faith but only when implying the acceptance of a group of religious tenets or implying trust in a person or organization) . Notice the difference there? Faith ? no evidence, Belief ? evidence?
Anything based on faith is, at best, on shaky ground and more times than not a false assumption. Any religion that requires faith because of a dearth of evidence for it?s validity is most often a man-made construct with no real benefit for mankind other than lending psychological support to it?s weakest members.
On the other hand, belief with it?s dependency on evidence, is more likely to be a truism.
A friend of mine that was once a missionary used to tell me that I was displaying faith every time I sat down on a certain wall to converse with him. Faith that the wall would not crumble and collapse under me. My answer was that evidence from a cursory visual examination as I walked up coupled with the past experience of this wall supporting my weight gave credence to my belief that the wall would hold up under my weight again. At the worse, I would be taking a calculated risk. :patriot:
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