re: #205 Ming

Well, yes, precisely. My assessment is that a belief in God, in the year 2014, often involves a rejection of rational, scientific inquiry.

(Of course, “often” isn’t “always”. Each person who believes in God is a unique human being. They may believe in God for many different reasons.)

Obviously we disagree about this. If you were asked, “Give me an indication that a person is inclined to rational, scientific inquiry,” you might say, “one indication is that they believe in God, maybe (for example) they believe that Mohammed went to heaven with Gabriel, or they believe that the universe is 6000 years old, or they believe that Jesus rose from the dead. Sounds like a scientist to me.”

You seem to think believers 1.) believe everything in their respective holy books is the literal truth as opposed to allegory or symbolism, and/or 2.) that they’re incapable of distinguishing when they should rely on faith and when they should rely on science. IOW, you think we’re kind of gullible & stupid, unlike you clever, rational, scientific types who aren’t prone to such weaknesses because FACTS! Is that about right?