Faith, how do you define it and how important or nessecary is it to you?

[Maria de Luna]

Having a discussion with a friend about religion we seemed to both be on differing sides about the concept of faith, first in how each of us defined it, and second about how nessecary it was to religion, and can one call themselves religious or even spiritual without it?
So this thread is about faith, What is it? Do you have it? and How bad do you need it?


For me faith is a firm belief in something that can not nessecarily be proven. I personally don't know if I have any and due to the fluxuating nature of my practice and the fact that i feel like deity or divinity could often be a product of the mind, I don't find it nessecary. But I know that this is not the case for everyone, so what are your opinions? Can I present my friend with a few interresting perspectives?

[Kahlenda]

Re: Faith, how do you define it and how important or nessecary is it to you?

With all my spirituality and beliefs are founded essentially on science. ill admit i tale so leaps here and there which is where the faith comes in .

[Sean R. R.]

Re: Faith, how do you define it and how important or nessecary is it to you?

Faith, and more precisely "having faith" just seems to me of a more religiously kind of way of saying "believing in". Having faith, as you said, consists of acknowledging something as true despite the lack of proof. However, technically, no one has true faith. If there was no Bible, there would be no faith. Why? Because the Bible itself is the proof. The proof that is, in religious terms, enough to prove the existence and characteristics of God. This applies for every other religion. Some proof is always present. May it be a book, people claiming to have contact with God(s), sightings of deities through the use of hallucinogens, etc. Every religion and spiritual belief has its own way of attributing proof to the existence of their deity.

By this definition, faith is a concept we're so accustomed to, we don't even realize its an illusion. We always have some kind of base to hold on to.

[Dumuzi]

Re: Faith, how do you define it and how important or nessecary is it to you?

Faith in the English language, as I understand it, means to believe in something without being able to really prove it.

In terms of religion, or anything else really, I don't think it's right to follow something without being able to provide proof of it. Sure it's ok to believe in cetain things you can't see, but there has to be a basis for it of some sort. Don't claim to be right unless you are able to give me a proof to support your claim.

I don't understand why some people think this is not important in terms of religion to be honest. You wouldn't give all your money and your house to some who told you to trust them without providing any kind of paperwork, and when you said why you should trust them, they'd go like, "Just have faith!"

Yeah, doesn't work.

[Poshi]

Re: Faith, how do you define it and how important or nessecary is it to you?

For me... Faith is a feeling. In times when all else seems hopeless, something that I cannot explain moves me. There have been times in my life when I have wanted more than anything else to give up on my beliefs, on the idea that love is stronger than all else, and on myself. I have had many hard nights in my life, when I feel like I will never be who I want to be, and what I want to see from the world doesn't exist. But when I wake up in the morning, like it or not, the sun is still shining and somehow I just know again that everything is going to be okay... It is beyond my control... It sweeps me up, making me a perpetual optimist, even when I wish it could just be as simple as allowing myself to feel poorly. Faith keeps me going, it keeps me moving on. I wish I could explain it in a way that proves it exists, but that would defy its very purpose, so I won't even try. Faith is just there, it just is, it just keeps you going.

[Medusa]

Re: Faith, how do you define it and how important or nessecary is it to you?

For me... Faith is a feeling. In times when all else seems hopeless, something that I cannot explain moves me. There have been times in my life when I have wanted more than anything else to give up on my beliefs, on the idea that love is stronger than all else, and on myself. I have had many hard nights in my life, when I feel like I will never be who I want to be, and what I want to see from the world doesn't exist. But when I wake up in the morning, like it or not, the sun is still shining and somehow I just know again that everything is going to be okay... It is beyond my control... It sweeps me up, making me a perpetual optimist, even when I wish it could just be as simple as allowing myself to feel poorly. Faith keeps me going, it keeps me moving on. I wish I could explain it in a way that proves it exists, but that would defy its very purpose, so I won't even try. Faith is just there, it just is, it just keeps you going.

I too think faith is just a feeling. And in my case, I never ever ever do anything because I feel like it. That sort of nonsense gets me in trouble. So I like faith. But I don't follow it. I just side eye it closely as it tries to f me over for not thinking clearly.

[Hawkfeathers]

Re: Faith, how do you define it and how important or nessecary is it to you?

I too think faith is just a feeling. And in my case, I never ever ever do anything because I feel like it. That sort of nonsense gets me in trouble. So I like faith. But I don't follow it. I just side eye it closely as it tries to f me over for not thinking clearly.

So you have no faith that Hugh will turn you on?

[Medusa]

Re: Faith, how do you define it and how important or nessecary is it to you?

So you have no faith that Hugh will turn you on?

Lol. That's fact!

[Poshi]

Re: Faith, how do you define it and how important or nessecary is it to you?

I too think faith is just a feeling. And in my case, I never ever ever do anything because I feel like it. That sort of nonsense gets me in trouble. So I like faith. But I don't follow it. I just side eye it closely as it tries to f me over for not thinking clearly.

That's very sensible of you. Unfortunately, I have a very difficult time being sensible about such things, and I find myself simply believing whether I like it or not. T'is a curse.

[Louisvillian]

Re: Faith, how do you define it and how important or nessecary is it to you?

To me, faith is having confidence in something (an idea, a person, an entity) without having a rational basis for doing so.
This isn't necessarily a bad thing. Just not my cup of tea most of the time. Hence why I found it difficult to believe in the gods completely until I had actual mystical experiences of them. "Believe it when I see it" is my mantra.

[Bjorn]

Re: Faith, how do you define it and how important or nessecary is it to you?

Faith is a choice. You either choose to believe something or you don't. Since absolutely NO specific religion, path, or spirituality can proven AT ALL, faith is a tool for those who follow a path with hard rules. Without it, how else could you justify continuing down that same path, never once wavering?

I am much less defined. I have HOPE that the path I walk isn't utter horseshit but I have FAITH that, no matter what, I'll always put one foot in front of the other on the way towards the light. The shoes I wear and the map I follow are immaterial.

[Heka]

Re: Faith, how do you define it and how important or nessecary is it to you?

I like to believe that I do everything logically, and I work really hard at making my own beliefs make 'sense'.


But omgs all I want in life is faith. Those people that believe in something so feverently, and have such beautiful faith. I can't describe it, but it's beautiful, and I want it.

I just can't 'believe' it.

[Medusa]

Re: Faith, how do you define it and how important or nessecary is it to you?

I like to believe that I do everything logically, and I work really hard at making my own beliefs make 'sense'.


But omgs all I want in life is faith. Those people that believe in something so feverently, and have such beautiful faith. I can't describe it, but it's beautiful, and I want it.

I just can't 'believe' it.

I feel the same way. I want to go to Disneyland but I know the dude in the Mickey outfit is just some sleazeball making a buck.

[Ophidia]

Re: Faith, how do you define it and how important or nessecary is it to you?

I've never had a good grasp on faith or hope. I suppose the closest I get to having faith is knowing the sun will rise in the east or that spring will come after a long winter. There may be a day when the sun won't rise, or there may be a never-ending winter, but past events show that the expected outcome will be another sunrise or spring, at least during my lifetime. Or at least I expect the sun will rise in a few hours, given that it's midnight here and I haven't heard any stirrings of catastrophe. A lot can happen in the next 5 or so hours, though.

[Heka]

Re: Faith, how do you define it and how important or nessecary is it to you?

I feel the same way. I want to go to Disneyland but I know the dude in the Mickey outfit is just some sleazeball making a buck.

And he'll probably grab your arse when you go for a photo with him... *sigh*