Comment

Comment by JP Carey on October 18, 2012 at 10:12pm

Blind faith is NOT a virtue. Responsible faith, "i have faith all the puzzle pieces are in the box" is okay.  "i have faith my brother will do the right thing". Those examples have some evidence to work with.  

Hope on the other hand -that's a tough thing for an atheist to sell.  The disenfranchised and down-trodden really eat up religion's promise of hope and salvation.  The humanist moral position that, at a minimum, ALL humans deserve a chance for a life of dignity & happiness should guide the rest of us to help those that need it.

People slip through the big cracks now -there's 7 BILLION of us.  We're turning "spiders into ants" with people -and ants are way less precious than a spider.

Comment by Jerry Wesner on October 15, 2012 at 8:35pm

Justin, I probably don't see hope the way you do, or the way the "faith, hope and charity" line does.  (Faith is my new great-granddaughter's middle name.  No; I don't approve.)  But hope supported by effort, hope of a realistic and desirable outcome, seems OK to me.  I guess your opening statement struck me as raw.  When hope approaches the attitude of prayer -- we'll just sit here and hope and pray -- then it's useless.

Comment by Loren Miller on October 13, 2012 at 8:56am

I agree, Jay, that they're not mutually exclusive, but for hope to have any meaning at all, it has to be based in something TANGIBLE.  It's like a similar distinction I draw between faith and trust.  Faith to me is belief without substantial basis.  Trust is belief WITH substantial basis, with a real-world foundation which is worthy of the word, "trust."

Hope that has no investment of action behind it is the kind of hope I was referring to in my earlier comment.

Comment by jay H on October 13, 2012 at 8:24am

Hope and action are not mutual exclusive. When you embark on something that requires risk (starting a business for example), you need a balance of both.

Comment by Loren Miller on October 11, 2012 at 6:20pm

Hi, Justin.

Some years back, my psyche of personality prof said something to the effect that "hope lies."  I've never forgotten that.  Hope is a vain expectation of a positive or favorable outcome, and too often where such an outcome is unlikely or downright improbable.

A person can either engage a situation and work it to his or her desired conclusion or acknowledge that the situation is beyond his control and await the outcome impassively.  In the final analysis, hope is inoperative, as much a waste of time as prayer is.