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Faith and Force

Reader comment on item: The Gods and the Arab-Israeli Conflict

Submitted by Ralph C Whaley MD (United States), Dec 15, 2005 at 15:51

Faith and force are inseperable in human affairs. Faith is a belief in the absence of evidence or in contrvaersion of evidence.

Reason operates on evidence and is the only means for men to interact peacefully. When men of reason disagree and persuasion does not resolve the conflict they do not resort to force but leave each other alone or resort to objective law to peacefully resolve the conflict by an impartial judge or jury ( instruments of government).

When a man or a group of men say " I have faith in God. He told me to kill you if you do not do what God told me you must do", no argument is possible to disuade his faith in God's orders. Their is no evidence for a God with which to persuade another man of God's orders. Retaliatory force is the only way for reasonable men to deal with those who initiate force. In a nation of reason retaliation is delegated to the govenment except when one's life is in immediate danger. The Army protects us from foreign attackers, the Police from criminals and the courts from those who would violate contracts.
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