Faith is Irrational: Reflections on the Worst Arguments Against Christianity (Part 5)

Let’s get back to our list of the worst arguments against Christianity as suggested by my readers. Tim offered a long list of suggestions including this doozy:

“Religious belief is a matter of ‘faith,’ hence irrational since faith is ‘Believing what you know ain’t [sic] so,’ or some such.”

I have rebutted this ridiculous canard too many times to count. One of my more recent contributions is “Irrational? Faith from Ignatius of Loyola to Carl Sagan.” And then there is “Do you have enough faith to be a theist? Or an atheist?” And “’I just have faith?’ How atheists go wrong in understanding the concept of faith.” And many others besides.

What strikes me is the irony with which an individual like Peter Boghossian brazenly creates his own definitions of faith and then knocks them down like so many strawmen. See, for example, my critique here: “Peter Boghossian’s Manual for Wasting Paper (Part 4): Faith.” And also my review of the Boghossian/McGrew debate: “Tim McGrew gives Peter Boghossian an unbelievable public drubbing.”

Perhaps even worse than the initial proffering of such shameful strawmen is the persistence in retaining them even after they’ve been thoroughly discredited.

This situation brings me back to last September when I provided a rejoinder to the following tweet from Justin Schieber:

“For many, ‘faith’ is a pride in one’s refusal to update epistemically.”

Whatever the problems with this tweet may be, it must be said that by this criterion folks like Boghossian exhibit enormous faith as they persist in regurgitating their discredited critiques of faith in a brain-busting refusal to update epistemically.