the lack of light, or the lack of very strong light; not something to get very excited about. It is only if spiritual darkness or lack of faith manifests itself in brutal, ugly, and violent deeds that there is any cause for alarm. Indeed one can go further and say that the only method of giving a man with little confidence more confidence, is to encourage him. To attempt to force him to have more, can only result in his ending up with less; because if he doesn't believe something, he doesn't believe it, however much he may lie and say that he does to bring the coercion to an end. A person's beliefs are therefore facts about him which one has to accept, whether his beliefs are true or false, wise or absurd. They vary infinitely too in quality, in strength, in precision; and those variations too one has to accept. As Augustine said, “What is a man, but his thoughts and his loves?”.