What differentiates 'faith' from 'following blindly' ?

Question

How do you believe in something you can't see? Just because someone told you? How can you accept EVERYTHING about a certain concept just because others claim it is the word of god? Do you believe that questioning SOME of the things in a particular religion will make you a traitor?

Note: I'm talking about all religions here.

Answer 1

I think faith implies that you once followed blindly and it worked for you, so one thinks that it will happen again. Faith is more the belief that following blindly and giving everything to your higher power will bring better results. There are plenty who follow blindly, but don't have the passion or spirit in their hearts to truely have faith. Faith is much stronger than just following blindly.

Answer 2

I think that you SHOULD question everything, but faith is a feeling while following blindly means you have not asked questions or have faith. It is easy to believe in something you can not see... Have you ever seen a million dollars?? So do you believe that there is no way that there is a million dollars in the world?
You should NEVER accept EVERYTHING anyone tells you, you should question that... you are talking about a certain type of people who do that, not everyone from any religion does that, so know that you can think for yourself. Just because someone tells you to follow blindly does not mean you should. But also, just because you can not see something does not mean you cannot feel it and it does not mean it is not there. You need to question and try to listen and feel all at the same time. To be truly religious is not easy, it takes a lot of questioning and a lot of watching others drag your believes through the mud with their vast generalizations (both from inside and outside the believe) but that makes absolutely no difference if you are truly faithful because of your own convictions and not just because someone told you to be. Think for yourself, God gave freewill, use it!!!

Answer 3

Faith is believing that something is true. "Blind faith" is rejecting out of hand the possiblity that your truth is not the truth of another person, or when your faith blinds you to something that can be proven as fact.

I don't think you're a traitor if you question your religion. Many of the more "mainstream" or popular religions these days have roots in a time when society was far different from ours, and the traditions and holy books show that. To question and find some things in a religion wanting isn't such a bad thing, especially if you still believe many things that the religion teaches and work with others to right the stuff that you think is wrong.

Answer 4

Because, Spiritual Things Of GOD Goes Much Further & Deeper Than Your Natural Common Sense (Isa. 55: 8,9)......To Answer your Question.....The Difference Between "Faith" & Following Blindly Is:....A Persons "Spirit Will Bear Witness Of The Truth" And This Is How They Believe!...... (Read)--(1 John 5: 9,10,11,12)...... Only Those Who Receive GOD & His WORD Would Be Able To Tap Into This Spiritual Truth!...That's Why You See Many Atheists And Agnostics "Attack" Spiritual Things , Because They Reject Truth, So How Can They Tap In To Spirituality!......

Answer 5

Those who are faithful onced lived in doubt. What this means is they eventually were convinced into following a certain belief system. For example, science strives to solve the mysteries of the universe, by proposing for example, the evolution of humans, and even a means in which the planets and life in general was formed. For me, this was not comprehensive. That first highly compressed part of matter that is said to have exploded and formed the celestial bodies of our universe, how did it form? Is it mere coincidence that lightning struck the primordial ooze, and various proteins began to form living organisms? And furthermore, that it is mere coincidence that these creatures happened to evolve into highly functioning creatures? If you feel as I do, you beleive that these are not coincidence, and something else is at least responsible for setting these things in motion. And that is faith.

Following blindly is just taking someone's word. There are those who refuse to believe their are other gospels not included in our Bible, though they exist, and tell another chapter of a story. A faithful person accepts this, and does research into their content, and their interpretation by experts. A blind follower calls blasphemy.

In other words, the faithful are willing to take things into perspective, and adapt their faith so that it fits all scenarios and provides them holistic guidance. The blind follower is afraid that their "faith" will be shaken if they think about it.

Answer 6

This is actually a very good question. Your definition of faith is incorrect, and therein lies your confusion. If you adjust it to its proper meaning, it will become more clear.

Do you believe in atoms? You have not seen them, yet somehow you take the word of scientists over your own senses... why? Because there is evidence and proof that such minute particles exist. That is faith. It is analyzing the evidence and, devoid of sensory proof, accept the conclusion of existence. A small faith begins with the possibility that there is something more than meets the eye going on. A medium faith takes the step to explore the possibility. A large faith excepts the evidence once confirmed. A zero faith is one that poopoos anything beyond the physical restraints of time-space.

Why do I believe in God? Before I knew how to study the evidence, I accepted on the basis of the complexity of the human machine and nature. However, as I grew in faith, I found even more proof to the point that there is absolutely NO doubt in my mind that not only God exists, but that He has reached down and communitcated to us through His Word.
http://schnebin.blogspot.com/2006/05/gods-word-proven.html

Answer 7

You can't see gravity, can you? But you believe in it; you believe that it works, that it will continue to work, and that it will work that same way tomorrow that it did today, right? That's all faith is! I believe that I have a Grand Creator who loves me, who sent his son to die so that if I believed and lived correctly, I might not have to, and that he has a book that can help me learn about him and how to live. Faith for me is finding out FOR MYSELF from the Bible, which is the book,( or owners manuel, if you will) that God gave me. I studied many different religions and had questions that I figured ought to be answered before I could HAVE the faith it took to NOT follow blindly behind a human voice. And one religion really DID answer the questions I had TO MY SATISFACTION, and that was Jehovah's Witnesses. Here's to say that not all people find their faith with the religion I did, but I looked for myself, and this is what I found! Some will say that by being with the Witnesses, I AM following a man blindly, but I have studied the Bible and found my answers, and they were the ones who were the personification of what I thought a religious group SHOULD be. Not one member is perfect! Not one member professes to be! But as a whole, the Witnesses have given me peace of mind from the questioning. If you look hard enough, you can always find SOMETHING, as a human with limited intelligence and understanding, and say "why is this this way?" or "I doubt that.. or this.." but faith says "Just let it be..." Following blindly is the person who wants YOU to do the studying for them and then tell them what YOU think so they can think that, too! Unfortunately my oldest daughter is a blind follower. She won't use the brain power is takes to read the paper for herself, but she loves it if I read it and TELL her what it says! By being a blind follower, if she comes across a person who is even quasi-religious, and they tell her something, rather than look it up and find out for herself whether or not it is truth, she will run along behind the other person because it's EASIER that way! It scares me to death to consider it, but she's 22, so what am I to do?

Answer 8

Although I am Jewish, a lot of the concepts I have started believing and thoughts I have thought aren't considered "Jewish". Really, I have never followed the crowd, and I have always questioned why we do some things and why others don't question as much as I do. I don't believe anything in my religion unless is agrees with my own common sense, and I believe it to be right.
I actually use my brain, and I can't stand the simple and closed-minded ones who follow some leader or rabbi and then agree with everything he says.

I question anything I don't understand, whether it's "traitorous" or not.

Very good question!

Answer 9

Faith is the substance of things hope for and the evidence of things not seen. Without faith it is impossible to believe. No one told me anything . It was a personal experience and a great manifestation of his presence that drew me to my Heavenly Father. I don't believe because of others belief. Not a traitor for questioning others belief. It's not a sin. I am stable in my beliefs and I question those who are unstable in theirs or those who don't believe at all.

Answer 10

Thats a hard question.
Faith is simply just what you believe-no difference if its right or wrong. Its just what you believe.
Following blindly is never checking up.
Whats important is what you have faith in. If you believe in something that turns out to be true-good for you. If it turns out not to be true-well, not good.
Questioning your faith is not at all wrong. the Apostle Paul tells us to test everything, and hold on to that which is good.