You don't fix faith

I’ve just finished watching an episode of “Firefly” an incomplete television series by Joss Whedon, which I don’t think was broadcast in Australia. There was a little scene in there that reminded me of other recent discussions over at Tim's which seem to be trying to pin quite a lot on religion (and I hope also ads a lowbrow perspective in contrast to the crusty old crusader this Caliph that arguments going on over at Tim's). The Firefly discussion takes place between a preacher of sorts (Book) and a young and rather odd genius (River). There are some gaps in my transcript – it’s not word for word:

The Preacher notices River writing in his bible and asks what she is doing.
River: “Fixing your bible.”
Book: “What?”
River: “Bible’s broken” … “contradictions, false logistics, doesn’t make sense” … “So we’ll integrate non progressional evolution theory with God’s creation of Eden” …. “Noah’s arc is a problem.”
Book: “Really?”
River: “We’ll have to call it early quantum state phenomenon. Only way to fit 5000 species of mammals on the same boat.”
Book: “Give me that!” … “River, you don’t ‘fix’ the bible.”
River: “Its broken.” .. “It doesn’t make sense.”
Book: “Its not about making sense, its about believing in something, and letting that belief be real enough to change your life … Its about faith. You don’t fix faith River, it fixes you.”

Later on River hands back to Book some pages she had torn from the bible, explaining that after she had taken them from his symbol, they had just become paper. Later again, Book (holding his bible) walks past River who appears to be writing again, possibly in another bible. He pauses for a moment and then River says without looks up "Just keep on walking." He shrugs and walks away.

Years ago, when I was at uni, one of my friends, a person I considered to be far more intelligent than myself, became born again and her whole outlook on life changed. It appeared to me that she was able to believe in concepts simply because they were part of her faith, and there was no logical argument that could be put up to change those beliefs. Equally, despite her best efforts, I was never able or willing to follow her to this state of belief. As far as I know she is still a missionary.

As I tried to say in response to Tim’s post, I see no worth in trying to pin the troubles in the middle east upon one religion. An outsider telling believers that their religion is wrong is unlikely to change or ‘fix’ their beliefs. Those who have already resorted to or are prone to violence and at the same time hold religious beliefs (and I believe that these are two separate aspects of a person, although a person may chose to use religion to justify their own actions) are unlikely to be persuaded, and it is possible that others who believe may become defensive of their belief. Rewrite or fix the book all you want, its more than likely that they will choose their own version over the one produced by the outsider.

Its a conclusion that leads us nowhere.