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Originally Posted by Spexxvet
Sounds like there are multiple aspects to "religion" or "church". One is the social aspect, which requires no faith and only the outward appearance of "belief", like participating in rites. To me, that has nothing to do with faith.
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True, attending church functions is no guaranty of faith, especially in more isolated areas with limited social options.
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Originally Posted by Happy Monkey
What you said certainly didn't come from what I said. "Abrahamaic religions" is hardly a "particular sect".
Few religions fail to put humanity in a central place in the universe. The idea that Jesus was God who incarnated and died for the benefit of humanity is more than something a leader of a sect said, it's fundamental to most of Christianity (which covers most of the rural Americans being discussed).
You don't need faith to believe in something greater than oneself.
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If you believe that thing exists but can't prove it, aren't you taking it on ...faith?
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You only need faith when you start assigning particular attributes to them, like "created the universe", or "cares what I do or think", or "is aware of my existence".
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Aren't you making the assumption that everyone that believes there is a God, assigns him/her those same attributes that are taught by the church hierarchy? That's what I was taking about, people doing their own thing.