Trust in Allah, but tie up your camel. 'Faith begins where reason sinks exhausted.' Albert Pike To me faith is a sliding scale, which at its strongest is just below belief. I feel belief is being convinced of something very strongly. Faith is more akin to being a bit unsure, but you feel that it will all work out somehow. I have found that adversity and trauma were very key in strengthening my faith. I thought it was strong before, but it was not. Now it feels much stronger, but maybe it will get firmer yet. I believe firmly I can leap a 4 foot chasm. If I had to leap a 10 foot one or die, I'd give it my best and have faith I could do it.
JLPMGHRS is right, we all have faith in something. We humans don't know everything. We're all agnostics really, but even then in order to live life, you have to at least act as if you believe something, or else you're completely stuck. And so in acting as if you believe something, you basically just have faith. As I said, trust in whatever it is you're supposedly believing. Maybe it's just me and my own experience talking, but who the hell is ever absolutely sure about anything? And I like your analysis, Blackguard. Except I think that with religious matters, most people who have strong belief, if pressed, would admit they don't truly know. Doubt is always integral, keeps you honest. Actually, I believe the two most important things religion needs is doubt and humor. Doubt to keep you searching and open, and humor to keep you from taking it so seriously. Without doubt, you become closed off to reality and the chage that always exists therein that you start living in artificiality, and without humor, you start blowing others or yourself up over your faith.
Most religious people I have talked with are adamant that they are right. I am wrong, and damned because of it, and they still love me anyways. They hope that someday I will join them, but they usually declare firmly that they totally believe they are right. Jesus = Heaven... no Jesus no heaven, and its not enough to admire his message, you have to let him pay for your sins or its no go. Not gonna do it, even if Jesus asked me in person... I'll pay for my own thanks. I really like your views on doubt and humour. An old zen proverb says, 'No doubt, no awakening; small doubt, small awakening; great doubt, great awakening.' And humour... well if there is a God, he is bound to have a really awesome sense of humour. I would only add the quality of humility in the area of others views. I am no more right than anyone, and have no ability to judge what they should believe, cuz I haven't lived their life. In a world of individuals comparison is ludicrous. I am here, you are there, and though our locations are not the same, they are both right. No one is wrong. Why does someone always seem to have to be wrong?
No man, my point was not about debating, which naturally polarizes people; but if you asked them how they KNOW, I think they'd admit they don't, but have faith.
The Bible says, Faith comes from hearing and hearing from the Word of God. Jesus is the Living Word. It is given by Him. Even when I didn't understand anything about the Word, I always believed He was real. Faith is something hard to explain to someone who doesn't have it. I'm not saying you all DON"T have it. Please don't misunderstand me. I'm just saying that it's gona be doggon hard for you to explain it to someone else. Incidentally, it IS called BLIND faith. That's what's so awesome about it. When we're young in The Word, we walk by faith. When we mature, we walk by Light. Well Fed, looks like you stumbled on something here. What do ya think?
