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Originally Posted by willravel
The difference between the bridge and faith on god is there is evidence that the bridge will not collapse.
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What evidence is there? Let's go over the things that
aren't evidence that a bridge will not collapse: regular inspection is not evidence that a bridge won't collapse, the fact that other people have crossed the bridge is not evidence that a bridge won't collapse, the fact that the bridge has stood for decades is not evidence that a bridge won't collapse, the fact that any number of experts have signed off on the safety of the bridge is not evidence that a bridge won't collapse. Evidence is something that is reinforced by what goes on in the real world, it isn't something we tell ourselves to make ourselves feel more comfortable in certain situations. What happened in the real world, was that despite all his evidence, the bridge still collapsed. If you were really a scientist, august 1 2007 would have marked the beginning of you starting to question your assumptions concerning the safety of bridges.
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While it may not be all variables, and is therefore not a certainty, there is a reasonable leap of assumption because there is at least some evidence upon which to base the assumption. The assumption isn't baseless. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of faith in the supernatural. No real evidence whatsoever exists to suggest that god or gods exist, therefore belief in it's existence is faith, not an assumption based on some evidence. This was already an apples and oranges comparison as we reasonably know the bridge exists, so speaking to whether it will collapse or not is already delving into the apples and oranges problem.
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No, you're wrong. It would be nice if we lived in a world where bridge designers and bridge builders and bridge maintainers weren't human and didn't make mistakes, or didn't try to maintain them on the cheap, but we don't. All of the well supported assumptions that you consider evidence didn't amount to much of anything when the shit hit the fan. Baseless assumptions, by your own definition, are matters of faith, whether you are aware of their baselessness or not.
The average doesn't think that the assumptions on which they base their faith are baseless either.