Agnostic.com

45 6

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
Share

Enjoy being online again!

Welcome to the community of good people who base their values on evidence and appreciate civil discourse - the social network you will enjoy.

Create your free account

45 comments

Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.

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

Faith in witnessing is the most fundamental way for humans to reach a truth of any kind, especially those inaccessible to humans directly.
Both past and future are not.directly accessible to humans. Thus our written history are human accounts of testimonies. Our.daily news are accounts of testimonies from reporters and journalists. Our Science are accounts of testimonies of our scientists. Hey we know for a fact that black holes exist not because they are made evidenced to us. Instead, we have Faith in our scientists to get to This fact.

That said. Christianity is the accounts of testimonies testifying an advocate about a future which is inaccessoble to humans and can only be reached by Faith in testimonies, shall it be a truth.

Except eye witness testimony is notoriously unreliable, so much so that it holds less weight than anything else in our courts. Our “faith” in historians and scientists is dependent on the fact that any thing they testify can be verified in multiple ways. Be it archeological, geological and fossil records, or through publishing their experiment to a peer reviewed journal and requiring some independent verification. It’s not faith in a testimony that allows us to take a scientists word for something we don’t personally understand. It’s our knowledge of the rationale of their process, and knowing that if we cared enough we could study the topic and see the evidence the same way they do. And as with anything we also know we must pay attention to who funded the study because results can be interpreted with any slant you want if there’s financial motivation. Religion makes no such concessions and holds no such checks and balances of itself so its “testimonies” are pathetically useless and unbacked by any standard of logic.

Historians are notoriously biased and should never be taken on faith. I was taught English history in school not Irish history. When i did my own research it was very different (as were my experiences in recent history ?).

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.

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!

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

3

Faith and ignorance live together; good and bad are elusive ideas. An ignorant person has little to say.

EdEarl Level 8 June 12, 2018
1

No !

1

When they use the word faith that way they mean they've decided to believe something without proof.
Jesus supposedly said people who believed without proof were "blessed" so that's what they are going for.

John 20:29 King James Version (KJV)
29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

0

It's just a stupid word

2

Faith itself is not bad. Blind belief is.

0

...

2

The problem with 'faith' is that it is used in two different ways. As pointed out in responses, one meaning is belief in something without evidence, or indeed despite the evidence, as in the case of faith in Jesus even though there is a lot of historical study showing the real Jesus, even if he existed, was little like the story, and the story itself was largely made up. Faith as in belief without evidence based on unproven authority. This is bad.

However, people also use faith in a different way, as a synonym for "hope". Someone might say they have faith in something happening or someone doing something. In this case it means hope based on some knowledge of the situation. Doesn't mean it's always right, but it is based on something, knowledge or experience, not blind faith based on false authority, a strong hope based on that. It's like you might have faith in your doctor. It's not blind faith in him or her, but a faith based on experience, knowledge, and confidence in their abilities. Religionists sometimes claim non-believers have faith in things too, like science or a secular world. Perhaps we do, but it's faith as in hope, and its based on reality and ultimately on knowledge and reason. Religious faith never is.

2

Religious belief drops when analytical thinking rises

Ryksie Level 6 June 12, 2018
0

I don't think faith is bad. Faith has been a great comfort to those who haven't known anything else or need an outlet for their comfort. But faith mixed with intolerance it was I don't find amusing

3

Honestly when I stopped being religious I didn’t think I would have much use for faith.

At some point I realized I had a lot of faith in humanity. That I might be helping someone and it might not seem very effective but there is faith that they will eventually make progress and improve their lives, and that has happened multiple times.

My faith switched to humanity and that has been so much more satisfying.

Myah Level 6 June 12, 2018
0

I don't shy away from the word or use of faith. We all use it, in fact. It holds different connotations, certainly, when I say I arrive at this or that through faith, or have faith that such and such is the case. For example, I have faith that my memory is reliable. I cannot prove that it is without employing it in the attempt. This might seem counterintuitive to some; "of course I know my memory is reliable because of how continues to produce reliable results." But what are you using when you draw that conclusion? The memory of the times your memory produced reliable results. Such things cannot be rationalized as they are pre-rational. They are our starting points from where we begin to rationalize. And, as such, they use be taken on faith in order for us to move forward in reasoning.

Big difference between what is happening in what I've described and a believer describing their pathway to belief. In my view, one of us has no choice but to use the faith we use, the other uses faith in areas beyond the boundaries of necessity (i.e. faith that a god exists is not pre-rational).

It's a club we think we have to beat believers with, but it doesn't work that way.

3

Faith is good shit man.

Don't let logic and reason anywhere near you though.

2

Because they conflate two nearly opposite definitions of the English word "faith".

Colloquially, faith is trust based on experience, simply put. When I mean that, I just say "trust".

Religiously, faith is belief in asserted "truth" without requiring that it be substantiated. When I mean that, I qualify it as "religious faith".

This conflation is partly unconscious but largely deliberate. A very common tactic of religion is to elevate the ridiculous by associating it with the sublime. Or to pull down the sublime by associating it with the ridiculous. Often both at the same time. As with "faith".

Write Comment
You can include a link to this post in your posts and comments by including the text q:105089
Agnostic does not evaluate or guarantee the accuracy of any content. Read full disclaimer.