To my view, blind faith is the opposite of critical thought. It is believing in something without evidence—or worse, believing in something despite evidence to the contrary. This is not an endeavor to which I aspire in any circumstances, but it seems a great deal of effort has been expended trying to convince people to do just that.

On Twitter, I have the account "SkeptiQuote" which I use solely to tweet a single skeptical quote each day. While I'm searching for appropriate quotes, I come across quotes that just appall me. I'll share some with you here:

"Reason is the enemy of faith"
Martin Luther, father of the Protestant Reformation

That about sums it up right there, and while skeptics agree with this sentiment, they've chosen the opposite side of the battle.

"Faith is a knowledge within the heart, beyond the reach of proof."
Kahlil Gibran an early 20th century Lebanese-American philosopher

I guess the heart has immutable gray matter that I'm unaware of.

"Faith, to my mind, is a stiffening process, a sort of mental starch."
E.M. Forster, English Author

I believe Forster intended this to be a criticism, but I found it on a site of "inspirational quotes."

"It is not important what you believe, only that you believe."
Unknown

Really?

"The way to see by Faith is to shut the eye of Reason."
Anonymous

Again found on a site of "inspirational" quotes. The message here is clear: God wants you to stop thinking. I guess that was never in doubt.

"You don't have to see something to know that it's really there. You just believe it."
Judy the elf in the film, The Santa Clause

Having faith in Santa Claus is really no different than having faith in anything else.

"Faith allows things to happen. It is the power that comes from a fearless heart. And when a fearless heart believes, miracles happen."
Unknown

There is an infection of mice known as "toxoplasmosis" which causes them to lose their fear of cats. This also causes them to be eaten by cats, wherein the lifecyle of toxoplasmosis gondii can complete. A miracle. Fear is a good thing, it may be uncomfortable, but it's preferrable to being eaten by a cat.

"Believing in evolution is believing in the unproved, while believing in Christ is believing in the proven."
Edwin Louis Cole, founder of the Christian Men's Network

But if Christ is proven... then what is faith for? I'm confused. There's a hell of a lot more evidence for evolution than there is for Christ. Where did Jesus get those nipples anyway?

"When I believe in something, I believe it with everything I am, which makes it so much stronger."
Chae Richardson

And if you don't, it goes away, as your natural ability to discern truth from fiction takes over.

"It is easier to walk on water with faith, than to walk on thin ice with fear."
Scott Johnson

Every single time I walk on thin ice, and I have, I'm going to do so with fear as it can help heighten my awareness and keep me alive. If you'd like to demonstrate the walking on water thing, I have a challenge for you.

"for we walk by faith, not by sight"
2 Corinthians 5:7

Seeing makes it easier not to bump into things.

"Faith is when we try to beat the odds."
Piyush Lodha

And Las Vegas loves the faithful.

"Faith moves forward, Doubt looks around, Unbelief turns back."
Jose B. Cabajar, Christian Motivational Speaker

I imagined someone approaching a minefield as I read this.

Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.
Saint Augustine

Replace the word "faith" with "LSD" above, and the result is the same.

I understand that "faith" can be a relief against fear, but so can reason. If you have unfounded worries eating away at you, it's possible to reason your way into a place where you can accept that you can't control everything. Faith is like taking ibuprofen instead of removing the thorn from your heal. After it faith wears off, you still have a thorn.

This is just a collection of quotes; nothing scholarly or profound here. But it does help illustrate the basic disconnect between skeptics and believers. Some of us want to see the world as it is, and some of us don't. Both sides are demanding that the other want what they want. And while it's politcally correct to assume that both sides of this argument have equal merit, one side is far more destructive than the other, using harrassment, legislaton and violence in an attempt to force conversion. I believe that there is a righteous side in this struggle, and I leave it to you to determine which.