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But the problem is with the second part of Tony's definition: all too often this boils down to 'my faith is faith, others are superstitions'. The author has some fresh examples from American political life.
He does, and I’d really love to comment on them all. The general sense I get, though, is that he believes that when critical thinking and faith are in disharmony, critical thinking should win out. Why? Because it’s worked out so well for him? What about the premises of all those people he disagree with, but whose beliefs have been bourn out time and time again?

I know you’re probably cringing that I’d put critical thinking on the same level as a religion, but should critical thinking get a pass and get trump power over everything else? If so, why? What about the people who don’t think that critical thinking is of any value (and there are plenty of those)? Is it right to just overrule what they want and put in a system that is better for them?

That political leaders would make decisions based on their premises makes all the sense in the world. I know there’s a lot of talk about “values” recently, but all politics is about values- in a sense politics is the practical working out of our values. And we all get an equal say in what we think is a valid source for our values, be it critical thinking or religion.

Some of the examples do show how individuals can abuse their power. Specifically the idea of allowing ONLY the ten commandments displayed is a great example. But just because some people have adopted such an attitude doesn’t mean that all people of faith have, or that allowing faith to guide a political decision is wrong. I realize that having George W. up there making decisions on the basis of faith scares a lot of people, but having a leader who doesn’t is an idea that scares a lot of other people. Ultimately it just all comes down to what the majority wants for a given time period. Fortunately we all have the opportunity to convince others to view their premises differently so we can get the kind of leadership we want if what we have right now isn’t it.

It’s a balancing act to have a society where people are free to believe what they will. In a sense, it seems like there are a lot of critical thinkers who want people of faith to “believe whatever you want, just don’t act on it.” But it is irrational to allow someone to believe something and then expect them not act like they do.

Jeff
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-Jeff
Rome did not create a great empire by having meetings; they did it by killing all those who opposed them.