Faith

Faith is confidence or trust in a person or thing; or the observance of an obligation from loyalty; or fidelity to a person, promise, engagement; or a belief not based on proof; or it may refer to a particular system of religious belief, such as in which faith is confidence based on some degree of warrant. The term 'faith' has numerous connotations and is used in different ways, often depending on context.

Etymology

The English word faith is thought to date from 1200–50, from the Middle English feith, via Anglo-French fed, Old French feid, feit from Latin fidem, accusative of fidēs (trust), akin to fīdere (to trust).

Epistemological validity

There is a wide spectrum of opinion with respect to the epistemological validity of faith.

Fideism

Fideism is an epistemological theory which maintains that faith is independent of reason, or that reason and faith are hostile to each other and faith is superior at arriving at particular truths (see natural theology).

Fideism is not a synonym for religious belief, but describes a particular philosophical proposition in regard to the relationship between faith's appropriate jurisdiction at arriving at truths, contrasted against reason. It states that faith is needed to determine some philosophical and religious truths, and it questions the ability of reason to arrive at all truth. The word and concept had its origin in the mid- to late-19th century by way of Catholic thought, in a movement called Traditionalism. The Roman Catholic Magisterium has, however, repeatedly condemned fideism.

Scientology

Scientology is a body of beliefs and practices created in 1954 by American science fiction author L. Ron Hubbard (1911–86). After he developed Dianetics, the Dianetics Foundation entered bankruptcy and Hubbard lost the rights to his seminal publication Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health in 1952. He then recharacterized the subject as a religion and renamed it Scientology, retaining the terminology, doctrines, the E-meter, and the practice of auditing. Within a year, he regained the rights to Dianetics and retained both subjects under the umbrella of the Church of Scientology.

Hubbard's groups have encountered considerable opposition and controversy. In January 1951, the New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners brought proceedings against Hubbard's Dianetics Foundation for the charge of teaching medicine without a license. Hubbard and his followers engaged in a program of covert and illegal infiltration of the U.S. government.

Hubbard-inspired organizations and their classification are often a point of contention. Germany classifies Scientology groups as an "anti-constitutional sect" (verfassungsfeindliche Sekte). In France, Scientology groups have been classified as a cult by some public authorities.

Love

Love is a variety of different feelings, states, and attitudes that ranges from interpersonal affection ("I love my mother") to pleasure ("I loved that meal"). It can refer to an emotion of a strong attraction and personal attachment. It can also be a virtue representing human kindness, compassion, and affection—"the unselfish loyal and benevolent concern for the good of another". It may also describe compassionate and affectionate actions towards other humans, one's self or animals.

Non-Western traditions have also distinguished variants or symbioses of these states. This diversity of uses and meanings combined with the complexity of the feelings involved makes love unusually difficult to consistently define, compared to other emotional states.

Love in its various forms acts as a major facilitator of interpersonal relationships and, owing to its central psychological importance, is one of the most common themes in the creative arts.

Love may be understood as a function to keep human beings together against menaces and to facilitate the continuation of the species.

48 Hours

48 Hours may refer to:

Film or television

Music

Other

Mark Rathbun

Mark C. "Marty" Rathbun is a former senior executive of the Church of Scientology, who last held the post of Inspector General of the Religious Technology Center (RTC), the organization that is responsible for the protection and enforcement of all Dianetics and Scientology copyrights and trademarks.

As the lead inspector overseeing the Inspector General Network at the international level, his official duties as described by RTC were to investigate and correct "instances in which departure from a standard, policy or ethic could betray an organization’s service to its constituent public." The post is widely acknowledged as one of the most senior management functions in the hierarchy of the Church and its related organizations. Rathbun left the Church of Scientology in 2004 and became an independent Scientologist, but now considers himself non-religious.

Scientology career

According to his official biography, Rathbun became a Church staff member in 1978, and joined the RTC board in 1987. The biography also credits him with having played a major role in various Church victories, including the negotiation of the Church's tax exemption agreement with the Internal Revenue Service in 1993. In 1998, Florida newspaper the Tampa Bay Times described Rathbun as "top lieutenant" to Scientology leader David Miscavige.