Blind Faith: "I refute it thus!"

Yesterday I finally had the chance to give my Mom, who will be celebrating her 80th birthday in a few months, a copy of True Reason. Mom is not really an intellectual, and is becoming a bit forgetful. But as a Christian for some 65 years, now she still maintains generally good sense. She opened to Chapter Ten, "The Marriage of Faith and Reason," and read the comment by biologist Sheldon Gottlieb, "In the world of the supernatural, anything goes, and the only limitation is ...the extent of one's imagination. No evidence is required to substantiate any claims." Sitting at a Thai restaurant outside in the Seattle neighborhood of Fremont, "Center of the Known Universe," she exclaimed out loud, "That's not true! Jesus pointed to his miracles to back up the truth of his claims."

As to the populist version of the Blind Faith Meme (BFM), the notion that ordinary Christians believe without any reason, as Samuel Johnson said in a different context, "I refute it thus!"