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FORUM]

Hope: Faith, , and

JONATHAN C. SMITH

he great season of hope is upon us just in time. We kind, or third kind? Does it matter? Most faith debates begin, dangerously, have just survived the season of the skeptic’s discon- with dictionary definitions. Here faith is Ttent. This season of hope began gently enough with usually seen as (1) in a supernatural entity (); (2) belief in anything for James Randi’s in spiring acknowledgement (at age eighty- which there is no proof or contrary evi- one) that he is gay, saying it’s no big thing. I smiled at his dence; (3) uncritical belief in anything great, big move and welcomed him to the club. Then, sadly, for any reason; or (4) confidence in a claim. Christopher Hitchens shared his fight with cancer, still Types of Faith viewing all as manmade and divine revelation as false. (He says any later confession of faith should be dis- Real-world faith claims can be confusing. I like to sort them into two groups: counted as a symptom of progressing dementia. A holiday claims concerning objective facts and su- pernatural claims. For each, people em - message for us all?) And, remarkably, in brace or reject claims on the basis of just two short months both the New evidence, unfalsifiability, and emotion. York Times and These bases reflect faith of the first kind, graced us with nearly a dozen never- faith of the second kind, and faith of the ending blogs on faith and atheism. And third kind (apologies to J. Allen Hynek). of course there’s Anne Rice, known for 1. Believers of the First Kind. her blockbuster gothic vampire novels. Rice created controversy among the Em pirical faith claims are open spooky community of recreational para- to critical evaluation. These are normalists with her proclamation that provisional claims. she will never truly belong to the “quar- “I have faith in my doctor relsome, hostile, disputatious, and de- until he starts prescribing the Jonathan C. Smith is professor of psy- servedly infamous group” known as wrong medications.” chology at Chicago's Roosevelt Univer- Christians unless she becomes “anti-gay “I have faith that healing sity and head of its Pseudoscience ... anti-feminist … anti-artificial birth prayer works until my prayers go and Paranormal Lab. He is author of control . . . anti- . .. completely un answered.” the popular textbook, Pseudocience anti-science . . . anti-life.” Skeptics of the first kind look and Extraordinary Claims of the Para- This might be a good time to try to for empirical evidence; presence normal: A Critical Thinker's Toolkit, and or absence of objective evidence is working on his twentieth book. He is sort things out. When it comes to god, contributes to or reduces the a licensed clinical psychologist. His ghosts, and all things paranormal, what website may be found at www.lulu. kind of believer (or disbeliever) are you? reason for belief. com/stress; e-mail stressinstitute Are you a person of faith? Are you a be- 2. Believers of the Second Kind. @aol.com. liever/disbeliever of the first kind, second Un falsifiable faith claims are

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More on Faith Claims of the Second Kind (Unfalsifable) Faith claims of the second kind are es- sentially immune to full application of A believer of the second kind the tools of critical thinking. However, such claims are often presented as if might assert that unfalsifiability they have survived careful evaluation. We see the religious profess that doubt of a claim gives one license to builds faith or that religion and science need not be in conflict. On close exam- accept the claim on faith alone. ination, one often discovers that the task of critical thinking has been ap- plied superficially and terminated pre- maturely (aborted). More seriously, one might discover that openness to critical thinking in fact applies to peripheral claims (miracles of walking on water) and not central claims (resurrections). Again, when such religious claims assertions logically impossible to be an unexamined time or place, are of the second kind, they enjoy evaluate with evidence; support some hole deep under the Great something of a protected status, ulti- is not conceivable. Pyramid of Egypt, where a mately immune from the onslaughts of “I believe that the ability of UFO may have landed. critical thinking. Critical thinking may psychics to read minds is a ‘jeal- Skeptics of the second kind be applied partially, but it is applied ous phenomenon’ that automati- do not embrace apparently em- only in service of the claim (doubt cally becomes unmeasurable in pirical claims that are unfalsifi- builds faith). Claims of the first kind the presence of scientists, skep- able: meaningless,un measurable, are by definition provisional and open tics, or magicians.” or universal negatives. In con- to challenge. Claims of the third kind “I believe that God provides trast, believers of the second are blind. Although they may or may concrete answers to our concrete kind may be comfortable assert- not be open to challenge, they reflect an prayers but does so in a way that ing that their faith is based on easy or narcissistic decision to embrace cannot be proven; he does not something unfalsifiable. Such a belief simply because one wants to (or want to take away our free will.” a believer might assert that because it feels right, is very beautiful, “I believe that in the entire unfalsifiability of a claim gives or is highly desired) and an equally nar- span of human history there has one license to accept the claim cissistic choice to reject courageous and been at least one flying saucer on faith alone. landing that cannot be ex- 3. Believers of the Third Kind. possibly uncomfortable attempts at critical evaluation. This is blind faith. plained away logically.” Emo tional faith claims are The claim that a psychic can believed for no reason other Issues of Faith, Science, read your thoughts would seem than personal preference. These and Atheism to be easy enough to test. are claims of blind faith. Simply conduct a blind reading. Much has been written about the pre- But it can’t be tested because “I have faith that George sumed conflict between science and re- such a power is jealous. Simi- Washington never lied. No criti- ligion. The role of faith is one larly, one might think that the cal evaluation will change my important issue. Our schema may help ability of the divine to heal an mind.” sort things out. “I have faith that healing illness should be open to evalua- The Faith of Science tion. Alas, this is not so if the prayer works for people I do not all-powerful always wants know and am not in contact Both the scientist and the religious be- us to keep guessing. Similarly, with. I will not consider any liever have faith. However, it is a pro- our flying-saucer claim seems critical evaluation of my claim.” found oversimplification to equate the open to assessment on the “I cannot conceive of a uni- kinds of faith they embrace. A scientist surface. One indisputable obser- verse without a god. Therefore trusts the tools of critical thinking and vation could make a convincing there is a god.” the body of scientific findings produced case, but negative evidence is Skeptics of the third kind by such tools. Such trust represents ob- not possible. There will always wisely leave such people alone. jective faith of the first kind. It is pro-

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visional and could conceivably be al- tered in the face of new evidence. In contrast, objective faith of the first kind is anathema to the religious believer. Religious faith is typically of the second (unfalsifiable) or third (blind) kind, both of which are anathema to science. It would be a bit silly to assert, Atheism and Agnosticism “Are there moon-men? Going further, those who choose not to embrace supernatural faith and do not The jury is out. Is green tea the believe in a theistic god are atheists. Here again we can identify several kinds fountain of life? The jury is out. of atheistic lack of faith. One who is an atheist of the first kind that su- Are spoon-bending psychics pernatural entities do not exist but is willing to change one’s mind in face of real? The jury is out.” new evidence. But is this not agnosti- cism? Agnosticism is a doctrine that a god is possible, but there is not sufficient reason for accepting or rejecting this belief. Atheists believe that there is, for now, sufficient evidence to make an in- telligent choice. Thus, both agnostics and atheists of the first kind may it is unfalsifiable. The question of support. If you believe in witches be- change their minds when confronted whether or not such an entity exists is cause you have a hunch, or you believe with credible evidence; until this hap- equally devoid of meaning. One might the expert testimony of a single profes- pens, the atheist chooses not to believe just as well posit the existence of an in- sor, then you must respect the testi- whereas the agnostic chooses not to visible pink unicorn or, my favorite, a mony-based hunches of everyone, make a decision. (see my including those who believe in vampires, This is worth elaborating. The agnos- book God Speaks: The Flying Spaghetti ghosts, pixies, and the inferiority of tic stance is essentially that “the jury is Monster in His Own Words). Such an women, gays, Muslims, and so on. It’s a out” concerning a claim. Sensible and atheist may claim that purely supernat- true Pandora’s box of a holiday gift. One thinking people, including true believers, ural hypotheses are unnecessary for ex- way out is to proclaim a personal, special make up their minds all the time. It is plaining natural phenomena. exemption from the rules of honesty and perfectly reasonable to decide not to be- An atheist of the third kind refuses accept one’s preferred faith claims while lieve in intelligent life on the moon, the to accept evidence for a theistic god, questioning those of others. But such nar- power of herbal tea to extend life by fifty even if such were to emerge. It is always cissistic intellectual fascism is currently years, or even the claims of famous psy- possible that a naturalistic explanation out of favor in Western civilization. chics like Uri Geller that they can some- may exist for any claimed supernatural Finally, is there hope at the bottom of times bend spoons with their thoughts. event. If faced with an apparent para- the box? Can one be an atheist, of any Indeed, it would be a bit silly to assert, normal event, an atheist of the third “Are there moon-men? The jury is out. kind may tolerate not having a natura- kind, and live a spiritual life? Of course. Is green tea the fountain of life? The jury listic explanation over prematurely em - As I wrote in Pseudoscience and Extra- is out. Are spoon-bending psychics real? bracing one that is supernatural. For ordinary Claims of the Paranormal, “The The jury is out.” An absence of faith in them, “I don’t know” is always better spiritual journey is a search for transcen- such claims does not reflect a rigid athe- than “God did it.” dent realities and possibilities hidden in the fog of selfishness, superstition, and ism because it does not preclude the pos- Does Faith Survive? ignorance” (p. xii). This does not have to sibility that at some time supportive Pandora’s Box or Source of Hope? evidence for the claim might emerge. be a sky god, an imaginary friend in These are atheists following the simple Through faith one may accept as fact a Jesus, or a dizzying touch of quantum rules of common sense. claim that has yet to earn credible sup- consciousness. But one must always be Of course, an atheist of the second port. Doing this poses an enormous risk. on the lookout for vampires or false . kind asserts that the notion of a theistic To be intellectually honest, one must ac- They can capture your soul for decades. god is a meaningless construct because cept as fact all claims with comparable That’s my message of the season. n

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