As should be clear from the content of this site, I am a strong supporter of faith, but I only support what I call "honest faith." I am opposed to dishonest faiths; that is, faiths which masquerade as knowledge and are narrow minded and intolerant of other points of view. Two types of faith which I believe are dishonest are materialism and religious fundamentalism.

You might ask if materialism, which I just called a faith (here meaning a belief system), is not rather the lack of faith. But I will show you that it is, in deed, a faith: It is a faith in the data presented by the senses and human reason. First let me present the materialist's argument, and then I will attempt to shoot it down.

The materialist will say that God, spirit, or whatever object of faith you choose, has never been sensed in any inter subjectively verifiable way by any of the senses or extensions thereof. Furthermore, he will say, that no logical proof can be presented for the existence of God, and therefore, given these two facts, the idea should no longer be entertained by rational human beings.

Actually I could grant the materialist his premises, but I deny him his conclusion. The conclusion is based on assuming that that which can be neither perceived through the senses nor proven logically to exist, therefore does not exist.

The senses are more or less reliable for detecting certain things, but I doubt anyone would say that what they are incapable of sensing doesn't exist. Ultra violet light certainly existed before we were able to sense it through extension. It is also wrong to assume that that which cannot be logically proven to exist therefore does not exist. Furthermore, the idea that reason is capable of proving anything either positive or negative about the ultimate nature of reality was, I believe, pretty well refuted by Immanuel Kant in his Critique of Pure Reason.

So, the two assumptions underpinning the materialists' argument against faith in God, are themselves unproved. Therefore, materialism is itself a kind of faith, and an intellectually dishonest one at that. I respect materialists, if they call themselves agnostics, but atheists...

Now, as for fundamentalism, most religions, unfortunately have their fundamentalist sects. These sects claim knowledge of God through divine revelation contained in some book that is, according to them, the word of God. But their claims are based entirely on the authority of their traditions. Question authority! 

I think most people who believe in something, if they will look honestly at their faith, will see that they arrived at it either from tradition or a leap of faith. So, their faith is exactly belief and not knowledge. Therefore, they should be tolerant of other beliefs. After all, how can they be so sure they are right. Fundamentalism (of whatever brand) and materialism, which make virtues of  both narrow mindedness and intellectual dishonesty, must be firmly opposed.