I read an interview of Christopher Hitchens concerning his recent book "God is Not Great" at TruthDig.com . While he made some interesing points, he left out a couple of important points pertaining to faith and why we as individuals and nations kill others. First off, I must take issue with his definition of faith as only being related to dogma, which is not accurate. He says you can't have faith in science and reason because they are not dogma. However, dogma is defined as "An authoritative principle, belief, or statement of ideas or opinion, especially one considered to be absolutely true." So dogma would include science and reason, if you consider them to absolutely true. As a matter of fact, since God created science and gave us a mind of reason, they are also part of my own belief system. Faith, by definition is... 1) Confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing. (My comment: Therefore, your faith CAN be in reason ...
Surviving the Circus of politics, religious dogma, science deniers and day-to-day life is nice, but THRIVING is better! Learn to find magic in the chaos. Truth, common sense and actions matter. Remember - faith without works is dead. That's what that verse means. You must invest more than lip service if you expect change, whether the change you seek is in your personal life or in the world. Education is KEY, and with experience, leads to wisdom.