Do we NEED faith?

Question

Every culture in the history of humanity has believed in a higher power, do you still think its stupid to have faith?

Answer 1

I don't think it is stupid. I don't think we specifically NEED it either. Some people just can't stand on the legs that they are all alone. That there's nobody looking out for them. So I suppose some people need it, and other people don't.

Answer 2

Enlightened,
"Do we NEED faith?"
Yes. It's important to understand what faith is.

Faith is more than belief. One definition is: An action, based upon belief, sustained by confidence.

So there is more than one element to faith. It requires an act.

One example of this is:
You are walking into a dark room knowing that the switch for the light is on your way, you flip the switch as you walk into the room. The act of faith is that you did not even slow down to see if the light was going to come on. That's one form of faith.

The Biblical Greek is notable in this reguard. The kind of faith in the case of the light switch would be called apisteo. It is a type of faith that is not directed in a godly sense of the word. The Greek language allowed no middle ground. You were either faithing (yes, it's a verb) towards something of a Godly nature (pisteo) or you were faithing in some other thing (apisteo).

What that is saying is that no matter what you were doing, there was a faithing going on in one aspect or another.

So you in life, could not function properly without faith. Whether it was opening a door, turning the key to start an engine, or claiming a promise from God, you always were faithing in some way or another.

Now it will depend on what you are faithing about as to whether or not it was a stupid act. If you took your life's savings and bet that you could jump over a 10 story building, that would be stupid.
But if you were telling someone that you were going to be at work in 10 minutes and that was the normal time that it would take to get there, that wouldn't be stupid.

So yes, because you need faith to function. And yes, what you choose to put faith in could be stupid. But to put your trust in the God that provides eternal life, that would be smart, if it were true. And I think that it is.

Answer 3

I believe that faith is a rather counterproductive emotion. Religion teaches us to be afraid of doubt, but what is truly wrong with doubt? I see doubt as being like a filter. If we have doubt, we can sort out truth from myth and grow in knowledge and wisdom. Those that have an entire belief system based on faith can not see anything outside of their own narrow view and have stunted their potential for true understanding. You say that every culture since the beginning of humanity had faith. Yes that is most certainly true. But every culture has also had strife and conflict. Coincidence? I think not.

Answer 4

Yes, I do think it's stupid.

And no, we don't need it. I haven't got any. I have better moods than the faithful. I have better sex. I have purpose in my life. I enjoy living. I have a highly developed morality, moreso than that of the faithful because they don't have to bother thinking through and developing it for themselves.

Faith is the most profoundly anti-human thing there is. The religion I grew up with (some generic variety of Christianity) said that reason is what set Man apart from animals. If this is the case, then why do we not use it? Animals are, it seems to me, the more reasonable ones—they don't waste there time in believing in things that they can't see and that don't have any bearing on their daily lives.

Answer 5

I just want to say I don't believe the people who have said they don't need faith. Everyone has faith in something. Whether it's yourself, your job, your kids, your significant other, luck, fate, destiny. How about the faith that your life makes a difference? The faith that when you die, you will be remembered well? The faith that you are the person you want to be? Everyone needs faith- if not in God, then something else.

Answer 6

The Commies changed that. In a way they substituted the socialist ideal for the religious one (more healthy perhaps, but there MUST be a higher power than the politburo).
Religious FAITH is the ability to believe in something you know to be untrue; and the surer you are that it is untrue, the stronger must be your faith. This refers to organised religion, not the existence of a higher power. The existence of a higher power is hard, if not impossible to deny. This is the Masonic view.

Answer 7

Yes. I still think it's stupid. Just because every culture has believed in a higher power doesn't mean that is right. Maybe if we hadn't believed in a higher power for so long, civilisation would be much more evolved.

Answer 8

Faith is your part to make things happen. Like a driving a car. And your faith is the gasoline to let it move. It is one of the most powerful things in this word. God said it can move mountains. And having faith is not stupidity, actually it is the most wisest decision you'll ever make. Hope I helped you.

Answer 9

There are hundreds of religions in the world and everybody is sure that their one is the true one. According to many scientists the need to believe in a force that looks out for us and enforces justice is a deep seated psychological one that is universally human. Since it is such an emotional need most people, even very smart ones, suspend logic and reason when it comes to faith.

Answer 10

I don't believe it is stupid, faith is innately human. Some of the popular organized religions have given human spirituality a bad name. People are beginning to think it's better to not believe than to believe in the options available. I don't think they realize the popular options are not all that is available to them. Spirituality is very individual and personal and not a best seller.

Answer 11

No it's not stupid - faith is taking a giant leap into the unknown, many do not have the courage.

Do we need faith?
Of course - faith is the only way to communicate with God Almighty.