Reply #70: No, all of those are statements of belief disguised as fact.

[IrateCitizen]

Facts are verifiable. Beliefs, or more accurately, opinions (of which beliefs happen to be a deep-seated version of the latter) are not necessarily verifiable.

People who express those beliefs as fact are simply denying all the evidence to the contrary. Their position is not one of spiritual journey, it is one of conviction in the face of all facts to the contrary because they simply want the world to be something that is easy to understand rather than the complexity that it is.

In short, they don't want to THINK. However, that is NOT necessarily a common characteristic between all people who hold various faiths.