The Language of Religion

I have studied sufficient Theist and Atheist literature to conclude that there will never be a meeting of the minds. We are wired differently. The cogent argument sincerely presented by one side is sincerely heard as "Blah, blah, blah" by the other. Neither should expect to "win" by persuasion. Both sides need to tone down the rhetoric and turn down the volume. The most/best we should hope for is grudging toleration; the least/worst we should be prepared for is escalating reprisal.

Religious apologists often argue that the scientific enterprise, too, must ultimately rest on faith. True enough, since all human endeavors must be based on incomplete knowledge and limited experience. But, just as the Inuit have numerous words to describe variants of our "snow," my "faith" that the sun will rise tomorrow morning is not equivalent to your religious faith in an intelligent unseen supernatural agency who could willfully stop the sun in its tracks (or reverse its direction, or make it do figure-eights) anytime he chooses. To deliberately blur that distinction is to misuse language to obscure rather than clarify.