Fides

As an atheist and supporter of science, I have been told time and again by theists that science is a religion. They inform me that scientists put faith in their instruments' ability to function, and have faith that their instruments are in fact telling them the truth, blah blah blah, and so on.

Well, those statements are right. Science does require faith. But what it does not require is blind faith, one of the most dangerous things in existence.

If I am a meteorologist, and I'm setting up my tools in a new place, I have faith that I am doing my job correctly, and not damaging the instruments. However, I will have previously set up said instruments in other locations. I have experience, and have observed my anemometer working in the past. Thus, since I have my experience to go on, I am not believing blindly that I will succeed in setting up the weather station.

Similarly, if my barometer tells me that the air pressure is going down, I have faith that it is correct. However, if a storm follows shortly thereafter, I will have confirmation that my barometer is functioning properly.

Religion, on the other hand, requires blind faith. Nobody has observed a god creating the earth, a flood enveloping the planet, Lot's wife turning into a pillar of salt, or some carpenter being crucified. Theists place trust in a book that was written thousands of years ago, after being orally passed down through generations of people. They suspend all logic and reason for the sake of eternal salvation, as promised by the aforementioned book. They kill other people for the sake of eternal salvation. Religion is the ultimate idiocy.