<do you believe>
Hi Ron - it is funny we use that word in English in several distinct ways interchangeably, confounding the word with "think", "know", and "hope". Consider the following:
I believe
... in equality
... I will have coffee
... my pet loves me
... in geology
Finally,
I believe in an Almighty and the Afterlife
Each of these is really different. A belief in a "country" is more like my belief in "equality". It's a concept - I'm saying I'm down with it. Details matter and its more of a guiding principle. When I say it about coffee - no one expects proof. The pet, it is more of a wish or an opinion. No expects proof of that either, but some people might doubt that "pet-love" is on the same plane as "human-love". People can sort of take or leave geology without much daily life impact until they want to build a bridge or drill for oil or survive an earthquake. I can't really understand how petroleum geology in Texas didn't obliterate belief in literal creationism. Every day, people have to confront the layers of sediment, the fossils, and radio-dating. Then we have the last one, which I can take or leave as a concept, but many people have very concrete notions about what that means for them, and more importantly for me, all without proof. |
