Darren New wrote:
> David H. Burns wrote:
>>  "Believe" and "know" are not synonyms. :)
> 
> Part of the problem is that the faithful and the non-faithful use these 
> terms in opposite ways.
> 
> The faithful think that believing is more "complete" thank knowing. As 
> long as you believe, it overrides whatever you might know.
> 

Are you speaking from experience?

> So when the faithful person says "I believe in God," they mean what a 
> non-faithful person would mean by "I know there is a god and I know what 
> attributes that god has". When the non-faithful says "I don't believe in 
> god", they (generally) mean "you would have to actually give me a 
> convincing reason for me to believe in god, at which point I would know 
> why."

It's unwise to attribute to someone a meaning different from what he has 
actually said.
Of few of us, in ordinary conversation anyway, say precisely what we 
mean. You use of the
terms "faithful" and "non-faithful" are "interesting." :)

David

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