A favorite pastime of some religious theists seems to be to try to find ways to claim that atheists are somehow just like them, holding similar beliefs in a similar manner. This may be because atheist criticisms of religious theism often focus on the manner in which those beliefs are held, not just the content of the beliefs. If a religious theist lacks any means for actually defending their methodology on its merits, then perhaps they think it's valid to resort to the schoolyard taunt of "but you do it too!"

Henry A. Huffman exemplifies this tactic in a column he recently wrote for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

Mr. Harris' arguments suggested that atheists are indeed people of profound faith. Their faith is rooted in reason, scientific method and empiricism. Many of us believers see those qualities as consistent with our faith, which is rooted in the God of Abraham. Mr. Harris and similar thinkers are people of faith to the extent that they accept the premise that "supernatural" phenomena are actually natural phenomena that science hasn't been able to explain, or explain with the certainty required by empirical standards. Their faith leads them to conclude that all phenomena will ultimately surrender to the power of human reason and the scientific method.

Henry Huffman doesn't give any examples of he considers expressions of "faith" in Sam Harris' arguments. Apparently, we're just supposed to take his claim on faith, thus completing the circle — but I'm not going to play that game. Without clear support for his assertions, Huffman's statements are ultimately empty and meaningless.

In fact, I'll go further and say that Henry Huffman may even be aware of this. Huffman is a volunteer lay chaplain at the Allegheny County Jail and, as such, is certainly aware of how the New Testament defines "faith" for the Christian: "Now faith is assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1). Where is the evidence that atheists have any sort of faith that looks anything like this?

Whenever Christians complain about atheists' "faith," the above definition is not what they mean — the "faith" of atheists that comes in for discussion is normally just the trust or confidence in something working like it's supposed to or expected to. Such Christians thus try to claim an equivalency between themselves and atheists on the basis of a single word carrying multiple definitions. This is not only a logical fallacy (equivocation), but it's dishonest. I have trouble believing that Henry Huffman is not aware that Christianity uses faith differently from how others use it, but if this is the case what would that say about him?

It's true atheists typically treat allegedly "supernatural" phenomena as really being natural unless and until clear, unambiguous evidence is presented to the contrary. This is how most everyone treats allegedly supernatural phenomena when it isn't in the context of their own religious beliefs. Christians don't generally believe in the miracles attributed to ancient Greek gods, for example — they expect that the events were entirely natural, perhaps even deliberately staged by the priests. Atheists just don't make exceptions for a favored god which religious theists do.

A good friend who is an agnostic or atheist observed that the values and principles that I had cited in a recent conversation with him were ones that he embraced. He inquired, then, what was the difference between him, a nonbeliever, and me, a believer. I observed that we certainly had a different view of the future and that, in times of trouble and confusion, I had a resource to turn to that he didn't.

Henry Huffman thinks he has an extra resource to turn to, but he doesn't. In the absence of any gods, heavens, souls, and afterlife, all he really has is himself, his own beliefs, and the people around him. These are the same resources as the atheist has, except that the atheist doesn't pretend or isn't misled into thinking that they have more. By being better connected to the reality of their situation, they don't have to waste time neglecting their problems with faux solutions like prayer; instead, they can get right to work.