Are you a Christian?

[cjd]

It's a pre-requisite of the apocalyptic faiths (like DCS's Jehovah's Witnesses sect) that everything is getting worse. If things were getting better, it would be even dafter than it is to want the world to end the way they dream of. They comfort themselves with this kind of weird thinking; it's easier to wish the world worse than to get off your ass and do something useful I suppose.

The real joke of course is that by pretty much and measure you can think of, the world is getting a better place - we're living longer, staying healthier longer, not starving, not being wiped out by any old bug etc etc. But the JWs prefer their own particular delusion.

 

[dagr]

...

Actually I think the statistics would suggest otherwise. Some of the best pubs and small theatres in my neck of the woods have been created from churches that have closed down and there are many more about to follow. It is estimated that as many as two in three of us no longer believe in any god. Religion has had its day. It is on the way out because people are more capable of thinking for themselves and less scared of admitting to atheism and the stigmas that the church attached to it.

Thankfully many Britons are learning to live without religion and to be open about their lack of real belief in ANY deity.

Traditional religion may be on the decline in some countries, but I don't think mankind's quest for spirituality has declined. This spiritual side is evolving, and includes many weird and wonderful outlets as well as mainstay churches. I'm talking spirituality in its widest sense, which includes tree-hugging, astrology, and even science for a few. I personally don't need this spiritual aspect in my life but most people do and they will fill it in a whole variety of ways. I suppose having a wider choice of spiritual outlets will put things in perspective more compared to the previous all-powerful, state religions, and make life easier for atheists.

 

[dagaul101]

If the banks had that attitude, so many charities wouldn't exist

 

[benjamin_c]

If the banks had that attitude, so many charities wouldn't exist

What? :|:|:|

 

The rate a population believes in a religion is directly proportionate to the Intelligence of a given population.

Afraid thats a scientific fact in most societies,something that has been known for many years and used by various bodies to there own ends.

"A survey of Royal Society fellows found that only 3.3 per cent believed in God - at a time when 68.5 per cent of the general UK population described themselves as believers. "

Earl

 

[Top Hat]

What has this world got to offer which you support?

Decay of honesty, lack of integrity, religious hypocrisy, collapse of the family, divorce on any whim, neglected children, no natural affection, selfishness, rudeness, me-ism, sick sexual perversions, revolting child molesting, spreading violence, increasing lawlessness, international terrorism, on and on the listing could go of things for which this world has no answers.

How do humanists see the future.

Can't let that go, the world is a much better place to live than it has been at any time in its history, and that 's not down to religion (which only holds back and stifles)

What time would you like to live in DCE?

 

[dagaul101]

What? :|:|:|

As the OP says, they will only give do ventures with companies who are ascribed to a certain moral stance, if the banks did the same i.e. invested our money in companies with a certain moral stance, then many charities wouldn't exist to help those same people the banks have inadvertently ruined

 

[VEGER Rent a Car]

The thing with religions nowadays is all messed up. I believe in something, but i think it's not the one, that anybody else believe in

 

[Top Hat]

What time would you like to live in DCE?

 

[DCE]

What time would you like to live in DCE?

The best time will be when God's Kingdom Government takes full rulership over the earth.

(Daniel 2:44) 44*“And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be brought to ruin. And the kingdom itself will not be passed on to any other people. It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, and it itself will stand to times indefinite;

As this is what is God's Kingdom is going to be bring about on the earth.

(Revelation 21:3-5) 3*With that I heard a loud voice from the throne say: “Look! The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his peoples. And God himself will be with them. 4*And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.” 5*And the One seated on the throne said: “Look! I am making all things new.” Also, he says: “Write, because these words are faithful and true.”

Will you be there to see it happen?

 

[quikshop]

The best time will be when God's Kingdom Government takes full rulership over the earth.

As if anyone needed any more proof that religion is the most commonly available mental anaesthetic known to man

 

[stugster]

“Write, because these words are faithful and true.”

Ah ok then. And here's me not believing what was said. But now that he has justified his reasoning by saying "I say so" then that's all good

Just nipping back to the days this was meant to have taken place... Who had a pen? Who was able to actually write? Who could even read for that matter?

 

[benjamin_c]

The best time will be when God's Kingdom Government takes full rulership over the earth.

(Daniel 2:44) 44*"And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be brought to ruin. And the kingdom itself will not be passed on to any other people. It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, and it itself will stand to times indefinite;

As this is what is God's Kingdom is going to be bring about on the earth.

(Revelation 21:3-5) 3*With that I heard a loud voice from the throne say: "Look! The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his peoples. And God himself will be with them. 4*And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away." 5*And the One seated on the throne said: "Look! I am making all things new." Also, he says: "Write, because these words are faithful and true."

Will you be there to see it happen?

I can sum this up in one word... Boll0cks.

 

[MASSEY]

I was talking to a muslim the other day , it turned into quite a heated debate. He was telling me how the bible is made up and that the Quran is the real book and that i should read it.

I asked how he could compare books and say one is made up and one is not and as most religous people do he give the answer

"it just is, the bible is made up they change it every five minutes"

He followed by telling me that allah will come soon and it will be bad, people will be flying around there will be fire etc etc

*yawn,

Another example of some one who has been spoon fed since birth so much so that he thinks just because he thinks it is thats the way it is.

 

Another example of some one who has been spoon fed since birth so much so that he thinks just because he thinks it is thats the way it is.

Sounds like your average British voter to me.?:|

Earl

 

[cjd]

"it just is, the bible is made up they change it every five minutes"

.

They're all made up except your own.

The daftest is the Book of Mormon, totally made up by a guy called Smith in the 1830s. Worth reading about for a laugh.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Mormon

Obvious tosh but million believe it - proof that people can and do believe anything.

 

[Top Hat]

The best time will be when God's Kingdom Government takes full rulership over the earth.

(Daniel 2:44) 44*“And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be brought to ruin. And the kingdom itself will not be passed on to any other people. It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, and it itself will stand to times indefinite;

As this is what is God's Kingdom is going to be bring about on the earth.

(Revelation 21:3-5) 3*With that I heard a loud voice from the throne say: “Look! The tent of God is with mankind, and he will reside with them, and they will be his peoples. And God himself will be with them. 4*And he will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.” 5*And the One seated on the throne said: “Look! I am making all things new.” Also, he says: “Write, because these words are faithful and true.”

Will you be there to see it happen?

That's not an answer, that's evasion (which is typical), I was not asking for an imaginary made up time but a real time, why don't you have another go.

Will I be there? no because it's all made up nonsense.

 

[stugster]

I watched a brilliant programme on telly last night about our Solar System (namely the star we call Sun).

Using a tin can filled with water, a thermometer, and an umbrella, he showed us how to calculate the amount of energy coming from the sun's rays. What I like, is that for anyone who knows the technique, they can take their own tin can, water, umbrella and thermometer and go and do those exact same calculations to work out how powerful the sun is.

How do I measure God's power? Oh yeah, that's right, I can't. I just have to accept that what a peer or book says is the truth without any way of proving or disproving it. Convenient.

The best bit at the end of this experiment when he said (and I'm paraphrasing here):

"We've just calculated that the Sun emits X billion billion [correction: 400 million million million million] watts every second with an old tin can, a thermometer and an umbrella. That's why I love physics."


EDIT: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00rf172/Wonders_of_the_Solar_System_Empire_of_the_Sun/ circa 10 minutes in.

 

[bdw]

If I ever decided to worship any god (I won't) it would be a sun god or a rain god. These are the guys who keep us alive not some strangely dressed fictitious figure whose followers promise death and damnation to anyone who does not believe in him or her.

I go back to a point I made earlier in this discussion. Let's imagine that there had never been any religion or any concept of religion. If someone came along and wrote a book like any of our current "holy" books how do you think most of the stuff in there would be received by most educated, thinking adults?

Guys who can part seas, feed five thousand people with a loaf and couple of fishes and collect two of every existing species and put them on a big boat?

 

[cjd]

On the book thing. The three Abrahamic religions - Jew, Christian and Muslim - share the same founder God and have the same book as part or all of their belief system.

Christians took the Old Testament and made the New, Muslims took the New Testament and made the Koran. Then each faith took their chosen book and then made their own. So that within each major religious brand there are many sub-brands and within each sub brand their are different products.

Jehovah's Witnesses have their own book, as do Catholics, Orthodox and Mormons - all believe themselves to be Christians, all of them know that the other books are wrong. It's all very, very weird.

 

[LicensedToTrade]

I watched a brilliant programme on telly last night about our Solar System (namely the star we call Sun).

Using a tin can filled with water, a thermometer, and an umbrella, he showed us how to calculate the amount of energy coming from the sun's rays. What I like, is that for anyone who knows the technique, they can take their own tin can, water, umbrella and thermometer and go and do those exact same calculations to work out how powerful the sun is.

How do I measure God's power? Oh yeah, that's right, I can't. I just have to accept that what a peer or book says is the truth without any way of proving or disproving it. Convenient.

The best bit at the end of this experiment when he said (and I'm paraphrasing here):

"We've just calculated that the Sun emits X billion billion [correction: 400 million million million million] watts every second with an old tin can, a thermometer and an umbrella. That's why I love physics."


EDIT: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00rf172/Wonders_of_the_Solar_System_Empire_of_the_Sun/ circa 10 minutes in.

Now I'm not defending religious 'faith' because to me it seems a bit like hedging your bets to me. However, what you have just described is also faith. Physics is faith.

What evidence did that tin can experiment give you? Do you really know how much energy is produced by the sun or are you just interpreting the results using the calculations giving to you by an individual or group of scientists? In what way is the scientific community any different from the Catholic Church? Ultimately everything they do stems from a number of fundamental theories...can you as an individual be 100% sure that these theories are fact?

I believe that the earth is spherical...but having never been into space myself all I have is 'faith'. Yes I could argue that the earth is curved because if I am at sea and I see a ship in the distance, the first thing I see is the mast, which would suggest some curvature...but who is to say this cannot be explained in another way? Faith.

 

[DCE]

I watched a brilliant programme on telly last night about our Solar System (namely the star we call Sun).

Using a tin can filled with water, a thermometer, and an umbrella, he showed us how to calculate the amount of energy coming from the sun's rays. What I like, is that for anyone who knows the technique, they can take their own tin can, water, umbrella and thermometer and go and do those exact same calculations to work out how powerful the sun is.

How do I measure God's power? Oh yeah, that's right, I can't. I just have to accept that what a peer or book says is the truth without any way of proving or disproving it. Convenient.

The best bit at the end of this experiment when he said (and I'm paraphrasing here):

"We've just calculated that the Sun emits X billion billion [correction: 400 million million million million] watts every second with an old tin can, a thermometer and an umbrella. That's why I love physics."


EDIT: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00rf172/Wonders_of_the_Solar_System_Empire_of_the_Sun/ circa 10 minutes in.

How reasonable is it, then, to conclude that man-made reactors required intelligent design, but that the vastly greater and far more dependable solar reactor, the sun, came into existence by mere chance?

Should we not instead give the credit to a benevolent Master Architect for designing a solar “reactor” that safely transmits just the right amount of its enormous energy through some 93,000,000 miles (150,000,000 kilometers) of space to our earth?

Just consider the factors that make it possible for the earth to utilize the sun’s energy in a way that ensures the continuance of life.

Earth’s distance from the sun is just right. If the sun were any closer the earth would be too hot for life; if farther away it would be too cold.

Earth’s rate of rotation provides the whole earth with alternate day and night periods of the proper length for plant growth.

Plants, utilizing sun power, change water and carbon dioxide into sugars.

This process, known as photosynthesis, is vital in producing food for animals and man.

The tilt of the earth’s axis in a fixed direction at an angle of about 23 1⁄2 degrees from an upright position brings about the seasons.

The time the earth takes for a trip around the sun makes the seasons just the proper length.

While lengths of day and season vary somewhat in different parts of the earth, the abundant varieties of vegetation, nevertheless, get the required energy for growth.

Just perfect, and it all fell in to place, just like that.

 

[cjd]

In what way is the scientific community any different from the Catholic Church?

Scientist generally don't bvgger alter boys

I believe that the earth is spherical...but having never been into space myself all I have is 'faith'.

It's reasonable to be sceptical but it's unreasonable to remain sceptical after adequate proof has been provided.

If you genuinely had any doubt about whether the earth was spherical, you could do many things to prove it beyond doubt. You could examine photographs from space, you could fly around it, you could send a balloon up with a camera, you could do a thousand things to prove it. You do not need faith to believe the earth is round.

The difference between science and belief is that a scientific theory MUST be capable of disproof and a belief can not be. If a belief could be disproved, it wouldn't need to be called a belief, it would be a hypothesis or a theory

It is not possible to prove that God exists or doesn't exist - that's why it's called a belief. In order to believe in the absence of any evidence you have to have faith.

Science and Faith are non overlapping magisteriums.

 

[Subbynet]

How reasonable is it, then, to conclude that man-made reactors required intelligent design, but that the vastly greater and far more dependable solar reactor, the sun, came into existence by mere chance?

The sun is not a solar reactor. Its a ball of burning gases. Man made things require design, because we copy or learn how to take advantage of nature. They normally don't even require "intelligent design", we have discovered many things...

Should we not instead give the credit to a benevolent Master Architect for designing a solar “reactor” that safely transmits just the right amount of its enormous energy through some 93,000,000 miles (150,000,000 kilometers) of space to our earth?

But it doesn't "safely transmit the right amount of power" - it just transmits the amount of power it transmits, the amount of power goes up and down with the number of sun spots.

Go stand out in the sun for a while, the chances are you'll get skin cancer. Thank god for that.

Just consider the factors that make it possible for the earth to utilize the sun’s energy in a way that ensures the continuance of life.

As I said, skin cancer. Maybe you need to consider it. It's not all good.

Earth’s distance from the sun is just right. If the sun were any closer the earth would be too hot for life; if farther away it would be too cold.

Yeah, so what? Why put a number of planets if you only needed one in the right place?

Earth’s rate of rotation provides the whole earth with alternate day and night periods of the proper length for plant growth.

That's because the earth's rotation came before any plant growth.

Plants, utilizing sun power, change water and carbon dioxide into sugars.

This process, known as photosynthesis, is vital in producing food for animals and man.

The fact we need food should tell you something. This isn't the miracle world you think it is, something has to die to allow something else to live.

The tilt of the earth’s axis in a fixed direction at an angle of about 23 1⁄2 degrees from an upright position brings about the seasons.

No it doesn't... It's also not fixed, just because its at that setting now doesn't mean its fixed.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=how-the-earthquake-in-chile-changed-2010-03-02

The time the earth takes for a trip around the sun makes the seasons just the proper length.

While lengths of day and season vary somewhat in different parts of the earth, the abundant varieties of vegetation, nevertheless, get the required energy for growth.

Just perfect, and it all fell in to place, just like that.

Yeah, you mean how people are surviving in Africa, how they need to pump water hundreds of miles in the middle east to enable themselves to grow food, or how Afghanistan is a hell hole...

Just perfect hey...

 

[bdw]

Just perfect, and it all fell in to place, just like that.

Not on all the other millions of planets in the Universe. I can accept the fact that we are the ones who got lucky.

 

[LicensedToTrade]

If you genuinely had any doubt about whether the earth was spherical, you could do many things to prove it beyond doubt. You could examine photographs from space, you could fly around it, you could send a balloon up with a camera, you could do a thousand things to prove it. You do not need faith to believe the earth is round.

Ok so let's say I am a briton living under the poverty line. I could look at photos from space...but as I wasn't there when they were taken I cannot beyond all reasonable doubt be sure that they are genuine. I can't afford a balloon with a camera to send into space and I can't afford a plane to circumnavigate the globe. What else can I rely on as evidence? All I would have to go on in this situation is the testimony of thousands of scientists, and yet there are thousands of religious 'elites' who would swear blind to me that they have witnessed God. At the end of the day, religion and science ultimately rely on faith of the masses.

The difference between science and belief is that a scientific theory MUST be capable of disproof and a belief can not be. If a belief could be disproved, it wouldn't need to be called a belief, it would be a hypothesis or a theory.

It is not possible to prove that God exists or doesn't exist - that's why it's called a belief. In order to believe in the absence of any evidence you have to have faith.

Science and Faith are non overlapping magisteriums.

Who decides what is considered to be an acceptable level of proof or disproof? Where are the goal posts set? What qualifies as evidence? If enough people confirm that something is true does that count as evidence?

 

[bdw]

I can't afford a balloon with a camera to send into space and I can't afford a plane to circumnavigate the globe. What else can I rely on as evidence?

You can rely on the first hand experience of those who have done it.

Who decides what is considered to be an acceptable level of proof or disproof? Where are the goal posts set? What qualifies as evidence? If enough people confirm that something is true does that count as evidence?

I know proof when I see it, don't you? I have never saw any evidence - not a shred - to prove the existence of any god but I have flown round the World.

.

 

[DCE]

The sun is not a solar reactor. Its a ball of burning gases. Man made things require design, because we copy or learn how to take advantage of nature. They normally don't even require "intelligent design", we have discovered many things...

But it doesn't "safely transmit the right amount of power" - it just transmits the amount of power it transmits, the amount of power goes up and down with the number of sun spots.
Go stand out in the sun for a while, the chances are you'll get skin cancer. Thank god for that.
As I said, skin cancer. Maybe you need to consider it. It's not all good.
Yeah, so what? Why put a number of planets if you only needed one in the right place?
That's because the earth's rotation came before any plant growth.
The fact we need food should tell you something. This isn't the miracle world you think it is, something has to die to allow something else to live.
No it doesn't... It's also not fixed, just because its at that setting now doesn't mean its fixed.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=how-the-earthquake-in-chile-changed-2010-03-02
Yeah, you mean how people are surviving in Africa, how they need to pump water hundreds of miles in the middle east to enable themselves to grow food, or how Afghanistan is a hell hole...

Just perfect hey...

So the Sun knew in advance that it would be required to achieve all the things mentioned.

It seems to me, that someone new things needed to be prepared to enable mankind to live on the earth.

Don't forget what the wise King Soloman wrote, its all man's fault when things go wrong, no love, only greed in the world today.

(Ecclesiastes 8:9) 9 All this I have seen, and there was an applying of my heart to every work that has been done under the sun, [during] the time that man has dominated man to his injury.

(Jeremiah 10:23) 23*I well know, O Jehovah, that to earthling man his way does not belong. It does not belong to man who is walking even to direct his step.

You only have to look at the news.

 

[LicensedToTrade]

You can rely on the first hand experience of those who have done it.

So of all those thousands of nutters who have seen God first hand, can I rely on their experiences too? Would you?

I know proof when I see it, don't you? I have never saw any evidence - not a shred - to prove the existence of any god but I have flown round the World.
.

This still doesn't answer my question, if anything it poses more. You know proof when you see it? What does that mean? Does it mean that if an opinion on something is presented to you that coincides with your own opinion that you interpret it as proof?

 

[Subbynet]

So the Sun knew in advance that it would be required to achieve all the things mentioned.

Turn it around, if the sun known (as if that was possible ), no instead your saying God known, and in that case he allowed everything else to happen... Now that doesn't fit in your view of everything does it?

 

[cjd]

It seems to me, that someone new things needed to be prepared to enable mankind to live on the earth.

To come to that conclusion you first have to make the assumption - which you have - that the universe only exists so that we can. And that is of course, egocentric nonsense.

 

[quikshop]

So the Sun knew in advance that it would be required to achieve all the things mentioned.

It seems to me, that someone new things needed to be prepared to enable mankind to live on the earth.

Don't forget what the wise King Soloman wrote, its all man's fault when things go wrong, no love, only greed in the world today.

(Ecclesiastes 8:9) 9 All this I have seen, and there was an applying of my heart to every work that has been done under the sun, [during] the time that man has dominated man to his injury.

(Jeremiah 10:23) 23*I well know, O Jehovah, that to earthling man his way does not belong. It does not belong to man who is walking even to direct his step.

You only have to look at the news.

You are an advocate of God putty. Whereas most educated people living in a secular society accept that there are many answers still unknown about life, the universe and everything else, you instead decide to paralyse your brain with other peoples fictitious creations.

At least start worshipping Harry Potter or something with more relevant social messages

 

[DCE]

At least start worshipping Harry Potter or something with more relevant social messages

What kind of worship would that be?

 

[quikshop]

What kind of worship would that be?

As equally ridiculous as worshipping any other 3rd party fictitious creation.

 

[stugster]

What evidence did that tin can experiment give you? Do you really know how much energy is produced by the sun or are you just interpreting the results using the calculations giving to you by an individual or group of scientists? In what way is the scientific community any different from the Catholic Church? Ultimately everything they do stems from a number of fundamental theories...can you as an individual be 100% sure that these theories are fact?

I believe that the earth is spherical...but having never been into space myself all I have is 'faith'. Yes I could argue that the earth is curved because if I am at sea and I see a ship in the distance, the first thing I see is the mast, which would suggest some curvature...but who is to say this cannot be explained in another way? Faith.

The evidence you'd require is found in the most basic calculators. Solar panels convert the energy into electricity which powers the calculator. Physics can be used to determine how much energy, how much space, how much pretty much anything.

I too believe the Earth is spherical because I've watched satellites orbiting the planet with my own eyes. I've watched the Sun and the Moon come together at a given moment to provide me with an eclipse. I've watched the Earth curve when I've been up in a plane. I've got GPS data that confirms the faith. I've got photographs of the actual Planet from outerspace.

All of that evidence leads me not to faith, but to knowledge.

 

[stugster]

Should we not instead give the credit to a benevolent Master Architect for designing a solar “reactor” that safely transmits just the right amount of its enormous energy through some 93,000,000 miles (150,000,000 kilometers) of space to our earth?

This is where you completely misunderstand the universe, space, and EVERYTHING as a result of the misguidance you've got.

You use the Sun as this wondrous example of God's work. Why? Because you don't understand the numbers.

In the Milky Way alone (that's our galaxy by the way... lets not go into the hundreds of thousands of billions of others). Just this one galaxy, there are an estimated 100 to 400 BILLION stars.

One of those stars is the Sun. Just one.

Use a bit of probability here. If you've got 300 Billion Stars. What's the chances that one of them is going to be at roughly the right distance to provide the right energy for life? I'd like to think that for 300 billion stars, there's a good chance that just one of those stars will be at the right place.

What about solar winds? Do you think one day, God got off his high-chair, after building the Sun, and the billions of stars and planets, and then realised that he needed some form of protection on Earth before Adam and Eve could be put there? Oh dear.

Comprehend the numbers, comprehend the timescales, and you'll be on the path to enlightenment. Of course, if it scares you, I can understand why "It was God" seems easier to understand.

 

[stugster]

Don't forget what the wise King Soloman wrote,

(Ecclesiastes 8:9)

You are aware of course, that chances are, King Solomon was completely illiterate and wasn't the author of Ecclesiastes? Or do you ignore that, and carry on regardless?

 

[bdw]

Does it mean that if an opinion on something is presented to you that coincides with your own opinion that you interpret it as proof?

Certainly not, because an opinion is not proof. Evidence is proof such as the evidence of being able to fly round the world and seeing that it IS round.

 

[stugster]

Just an interesting thought I had there... As a business forum, it seems evident that should your intellectual work be stolen, and used by others for their own gain that you would get on to the lawyers to have this stolen work removed.

And yet, Christians are happy to go about with their Bible, either ignorant in the knowledge that it's ripped off someone else, or condoning the copying.

Ecclesiastes was used in Judaism well before the Christians nicked it, changed it, abused it, and used it. And don't even get me started with the Hellenistic period! Or do we ignore that as well and pretend God will show you the way?

 

[cjd]

At the end of the day, religion and science ultimately rely on faith of the masses.

You are not in any doubt at all that the earth is round. That's the case because you know it can be proved absolutely by many methods if need be.

In so much as you have faith that it's round, you have faith that it has been proved to be round. You don't think that the scientists and sailors that have proved it to be round are acting themselves solely on faith.

Science does not rely on the faith of the masses. The law of gravity is not changed if a group of people decide not to believe in it. I challenge you to walk off a tall building to prove your lack of faith in gravity - for example.

It's a truism that the masses rely on the facts that science tells us without total knowledge of the science itself; none of us could build a TV from parts, but none of us deny the existence of television.

The masses can therefore be said to have faith in science. I do not understand anything about quarks but given its track history I'm forced to believe that science itself does.

But to equate my belief in quarks (which can ultimately be proven one way or another) with DCF's belief in a god (which can not be proven) is a bad error of both logic and language.

Who decides what is considered to be an acceptable level of proof or disproof? Where are the goal posts set? What qualifies as evidence? If enough people confirm that something is true does that count as evidence?

Some things are absolute and some are not. That gravity exists on earth is an absolute and can be measured - even by you. That climate warming is caused by people is a probability - at the moment a 90% probability.

Truth is not decided by the number of people who believe it, it's decided by the weight of evidence for or against. If the whole of the earth's population believed that the earth was flat (which it mostly did back when these daft religions were being dreamt up to explain the inexplicable) - it would not make it so.