Leap of Faith vs. Leap of Fact

The President of the Atheist community of Austin, Matt Dillahunty, came to speak to our Journalism and Religion class. Before he came, many thoughts went through my mind about what type of interaction he would have with our class. Would he assume we would automatically judge him? Would he be very defensive? Would he be able to answer my difficult questions about Atheism? I was more than excited. When he began talking, he presented himself as a very confident and knowledgeable man. He told us he wanted us to ask any and every question we had. He warned us about his strong views but made us aware of his intention to teach us about Atheism in an objective way. I respected this about him from the beginning. The subject about Atheism that I most wondered about was one that he drilled hard. I asked about his need was for proof. “The truth has nothing to fear from examination,” he said. This was my favorite quote that he said that day. It was completely true. I have very high expectations of religion. In my mind, the amount of faith put in should reflect some type of answers…but this is not always how it is. Sometimes, as Matt Dillahunty agreed, there are no answers to some questions. Many who believe in God are okay with relying on a leap of faith. People like Dillahunty can’t let that be the end all say all…and this is a feeling I truly understand. Although Judaism leaves a lot of room for questioning and learning and searching, I am always uneasy about the lack of proof for certain things. Dillahunty said, “there’s not a single religion out there that doesn’t rely on faith.” I believe that’s true as well. The question for me is how one can be a person of faith, and then lose this faith so completely. Many would respond that death or catastrophe could result in a loss of faith, and I’ve seen it happen. I can see WHY faith is lost, but I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that some people wholly believe in God and then suddenly fall to a state of certainty that there is no God. And then, even more confusing are those who simply “fall out of faith” for no specific reason. Dillahunty says nothing major happened to him, but that he just gradually became an Atheist. He wasn’t getting answers. He started to find other answers leading to other ideas that could be proven through philosophy and science. This was fact to him. There was no leap of faith and no wondering. Proof and fact was right in front of him in science research. He told us that he knows his views may seem extreme to us, but to him, there is no possibility that there is a God. “Faith is not something I find to be a virtue. It is normal and human…and I would never advocate taking away someone else’s faith, hopes, and beliefs, but I can’t rely on ‘God’.” His ability to be strong minded, and yet at the same time accepting of those around him made me feel completely comfortable with every view he had. Some I didn’t agree with, but it was pleasant to be in such an open learning environment.