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Faith... is it good?

Why do people think faith is a good thing? When you ask them why they believe in god they say “I just have faith” like it’s a good thing and the discussion should be over.

Nathan65 4 June 12
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0

Unquestioning, blind faith builds the object of faith into the creation "YOU" wish them to be (instantly, or thru long term indoctrination). Making them into such an ideal, forces "your" mind to make that object a key portion of "your" reality.
Thus, even when confronted with evidence to the contrary, "you" are forced to ignore or argue it away, otherwise "your" basic universe crumbles.
This is why logic/reasoning does not work with zealots. (Religion, politics, lying significant other, abusive spouse) Dislodging such insanity takes much more than talking.

True trust, of necessity, builds slowly, thru logic and reason.

0

Faith is a huge deterrent to knowledge and progress.

Deb57 Level 8 June 13, 2018
0

A Christian has faith in his version of the god myth
A Jew has faith in his version of the god myth
A Muslim has faith in his version of the god myth
A Hindu has faith in his version of the god myth

They all claim they are right because of their faith
They all claim the others are wrong because of their faith

Therefore faith can lead to both right and wrong conclusion
Therefore faith is an unreliable way of determining anything
Therefore faith is useless and dangerous.

2

I don't have faith, I play the odds.

1

Faith . . . Is it good? (Accepting as truth things that can not be demonstrated as factual) is not a good practice to make the best informed decisions as "faithful" do not distinguish between reality and whatever they decide is truth.

Why do people think faith is a good thing? The foundation of religion is faith. To recognize that faith is not a good way to find truth would call into question faith based (religion) claims. Religious institutions use faith to cement their power base so to keep their sheeple deluded, they promote faith over facts and some go as far as to openly attack reality (science) in an attempt to ascend the false value of faith.

Whenever I encounter "I just have faith" I make is a point to define exactly what "faith" is. I often rough quote anticitizenX (great Youtuber) with . . . If you use faith to decide what is true you leave you head open like a bucket to accept whatever nonsense someone wants to put in there. On more then one occasion I have enlightened a few theists as to their lack of credible foundation of their belief structure. Some I have educated have transitioned to atheist.

2

"Faith and trust are often used interchangeably, as though they’re one and the same.

They are not one and the same. In fact, FAITH and TRUST are two entirely different things. One may even argue convincingly, faith and trust are contradictory.

Faith has been called “the substance of hope.” Faith requires no evidence for belief nor practice. The very nature of faith surmises that tangible evidence doesn’t exist. Otherwise, there is a manifestation. On the other hand, trust is based largely on evidence that is real according to the senses and to human reason. Trust is the core conviction of judgment based on knowledge, instinct, and experience.

To further extend this point and the distinction between faith and trust, consider a common everyday experience:

Imagine walking down a city street. At one point, you step onto a well-marked crosswalk. In doing so, you unwittingly place enormous trust in other people. You trust the drivers of cars and trucks, presumably complete strangers to you to behave safely. They are expected to obey the traffic laws. You trust these drivers will be skilled and sober enough to observe you walking in the middle of the street and will come to a stop, thus allowing you to pass safely.

Based on volumes of evidence — including traffic fatalities which happen frequently in crosswalks, railroad crossings, and the like — placing this trust may be ill-advised. After all, you know nothing about these drivers. They could be drunk or distracted or sending texts and quite possibly not see you. Should that misfortune happen, the end result could be a serious injury, or perhaps even death. Nonetheless, we all step out into crosswalks anyway, usually without even thinking about the risk we are taking. This is because trust is a fundamental provision of daily life and living. We have no choice than to trust other people.

Now in another scenario, let’s suppose you were to step into that same unlit crosswalk — but this time during the night. Let’s assume that most drivers wouldn’t be able to see you crossing until perhaps it was too late, and then you’d be run over. Nevertheless, your decision was made to cross this street in the night based on some wayward faith. Your faith tells you, you’re protected, perhaps even invincible. One can readily see by this fantasmal make-believe scenario that faith is an utter act of stupidity, if not outright madness. Faith has become dangerous. Not only does faith have no actual basis in truth, it also lacks a common utility.

Society would be much better off with more trust, and less faith. The late writer and polemic Christopher Hitchens shared the following perspective. He had little regard for faith, writing much to the rancor of conventional thinkers:

Faith is the surrender of the mind, it’s the surrender of reason, it’s the surrender of the only thing that makes us different from other animals. It’s our need to believe and to surrender our skepticism and our reason, our yearning to discard that and put all our trust or faith in someone or something, that is the sinister thing to me. … Out of all the virtues, all the supposed virtues, faith must be the most overrated.

Indeed, it’s peculiar that we regard faith as a virtue at all.

Faith is the abandonment of scientific principles. Faith is the refutation of tangible evidence. Faith, in all its many forms, is a wild jackal roaming the global Serengeti, steeped in the poverty of superfluous instinct, seemingly without cogitation or purpose. In short, faith confuses things and makes the search for actual truth more ambiguous. It clouds judgment.

Unfortunately, faith is too common. The best example of faith in practice is religion and all its intended and unintended fall-out. Billions of global citizens claim to be believers adhering to one faith versus another. Certainly, we’re entitled to believe in spiritual Easter Bunnies and Magic Men and even Flying Spaghetti Monsters if we so choose to. Everyone should have his or her right to believe in Tarot Cards or Santa Claus and have faith that flying reindeer will arrive once a year bearing a new plasma television. But problems do occur when the faithful try to impose these illusory fantasies onto others, often by rule of law, or by force. Even bigger problems occur when the faithful try to inhibit the actions of the faithless. When this occurs, human advancement and scientific progress, so naturally intertwined, come to a screeching halt.

The hurdles of science are challenging enough without the added pitfalls of superstition. Consider how faith has altered and often shaped human history, which continues to the present. Consider the manner by which those claiming to be faithful incite biases against the discoveries of modern science. Whether it’s believing in angels or denying evolution, faith is folly. Faith is not only wrong — but also bad. The very notion that we rest “in God’s hands,” enslaves greater human pursuits. What’s the point of working tirelessly inside a laboratory trying to cure a disease if prayer actually works? Why not toss all the test tubes away and just pray harder? Why have trust (in science and mankind) when there’s faith (in the supernatural)?

Secular-humanism has been defined as “the application of reason and science to the understanding of the universe and the solving of human problems.” To this end, we must trust in the insatiable desires of our most gifted and dedicated to continuing the ways of discovery which benefit us all, and those who follow. Trust becomes a largely positive ideal not only giving life purpose but reaffirming human value.

This stark contrast between faith and trust illustrates the way religious believers and secular humanists look at the world and life differently. While the faithful place their lives at the supposed goodwill of a theoretical supreme being, we secular-humanists are forced to rely on each other. Accordingly, we are required to have trust in each other — which is actually the noblest of virtues.

Not faith, but trust.
[nolandalla.com]

sundug Level 5 June 12, 2018
0

Faith is a thing. Good or bad depends on what you have faith to.

Believing in anything, when there is no evidence for it, or even in spite of evidence against it, is never a good thing, it is delusional willful ignorance, and is therefore an insult to reason.

@LenHazell53
Hafta go with you here Len.

0

Faith. All humans have faith of one kind or another. Religious people just claim that their faith is better. When you are driving do you have faith in the person driving at 60 miles per hour in a 1-3 ton vehicle less than 5 feet from the side of your car? Do you have faith that the elevator won't fall? Or that the person behind you won't attack or shove you? Faith is what you make of it. I have faith in my self, friends, family, and many other things of the day.

xyz123 Level 7 June 12, 2018

What you describe as faith that the next car won't run into you is really trust-there is a basis in reality for it, whereas there is no basis for faith in supernatural beings.

I strive to eliminate ALL faith from my life. I don't have faith in the elevator, I have knowledge about how elevator safety systems work. I don't have faith in the truck driver, I have a way to avoid him if he loses control. And I have knowledge that random attacks from total strangers are extremely rare. Faith is always bad.

2

Faith is always evil. Faith is belief without proof, or even evidence, and you shouldn't believe without a reason to believe. Faith is like facing a tough math problem, and rather than solving the problem you just pick a number out of thin air and believe it's the answer rather than admitting that you don't know. Most people of faith even insist that the random number that they selected is right even when someone does the problem and gets the RIGHT answer. They feel resentful against the one who worked to gain knowledge that they were too lazy to do themselves.

If you don't know the right answer, have the guts to admit that you don't know the right answer.

0

If it makes someone feel better power to them.

I agree, as long as it doesn't prevent them from doing something more helpful-like going to a Dr., or helping themselves directly.

Peter Sutcliffe thought that killing prostitutes and other women with a hammer and screwdriver made him feel better, too.
Wrong is wrong, madness is madness even when it is considered socially acceptable or even desirable.

0

You can have faith in things other than a deity. for instance ... I believe all things work on a cycle of + and - . I don't let the negatives get me down because I know a positive is around the corner if I am experiencing a negative now. That is faith.

0

Faith is usually conceived of as religious faith but I could have faith in my own ability to sew my daughter a dress, knit my son a pullover - or faith in a hammock that it will stay up because I tied good knots. I havent ever had a god and can't really conceive of having a faith in something that isnt demonstrably strong, something I can't see or test.

jacpod Level 8 June 12, 2018

@OroLee Ah thanks I get that!

1

I have faith in myself. But faith in something "out there"? No.

@OroLee Point taken. But sometimes I have to make a decision without knowing what the outcome will be. To me that's a "leap of faith"... and perhaps that's what I consider trust in myself to be.

@bleurowz yes get this as well!

0

We all have faith to a degree. When we step on an airplane we have faith that the mechanics have done their job properly. Or when we drive though a green light that someone won't drive though on red etc. Society could not function without it. Blind faith is something else and faith in a deity is just superstition.

2

Faith requires no thought.

3

I agree with Matt Dillahunty's definition of faith.
Is there anything we can't believe in through faith? Jesus walking on water.. provide evidence.. no you just have to have faith that he did...?

0

Faith seems equivalent to trust. For this, I like the words of Ronald Reagan....Trust but verify!

0

My friend is religious and she was saying that i became religious because she didnt feel she could face her problems without 'God'. So to answer your question... it depends who you are. If you think you need faith to get through the day, then yes.

0

Are you talking about faith in a god? If so...I don't think it's a ''good thing." It's just a drug to get you through a rocky night or a death or fear of your own death.

2

I have been on both sides. When people "have faith" they truly cannot see reason. Now that I'm on this side, it's like walking into a magical field of clarity. There really is no answer to this question aside from people just not being able to "see" right. Once the click happens in the brain, it's like waking up in a way that you've never been woke before. I try not to judge people for not getting the click in their brain.

0

Well, remember the story of Pandora? When she opened the box (or sealed vase depending on version of the story), the last sprite to escape to plague man was Hope.

Most people today see hope as a positive thing, but the Greeks saw it as a negative, because it raises expectations far beyond what can realistically be expected. It may be lost in translation, but hope and faith are very similar.

Both Hope and Faith are two edged swords that can cut both ways. How you look at them is due to a cultural bias, and depends on how you were taught to think about them.

The ancient Greeks didn't believe in over reaching via Hope, and greatly disparaged it. In the U.S. as well as many other Western Civilizations, it is considered admirable to reach beyond your limits... but only if you manage to pull it off and get what you are reaching for. The vast majority fail miserably, but we lionize those few who actually made it.

It is all just due to what is considered the cultural norm as to how we look at things.

3

They do that because they cannot defend it with reason and logic.
They have "faith" because they are devoid of both.

2

Faith is simply another word for trust. And as we all know, trust must be earned. Those we trust have earned it by proving that they can be trusted. Trust without proof is always a terrible idea, even if it works out for the best, because it rarely does.

1

Faith is an emotional mode of thinking and it's good to some degree if a person finds growth in it, but otherwise it's just a way to misinform people from very simple reasoning about the nature of what is out there, and the nature of the existence of God(s).

4

I have never understood blind faith in anything.

In my mind, blind faith is believing in something and not being open to any other suggestions. And that is close mindedness

@GaryShimell They are not the same. Blind faith is believing in something without any tangable reason other than your desire to believe.

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