I hear a lot believers talk about how much they admire "faith." I would genuniely like to know, would they admire the faith of a dad who bet the rent money on a horse? Or the faith of a mom who spent the food money on lottery tickets because she believed she had the right numbers? How about the faith of someone who believes voodoo will cure their child?
To me it seems, they might not admire "faith" as much as "faith in EXACTLY what I believe" but...if I'm wrong, please explain.
2006-10-25 09:19:04 · 27 answers · asked by Black Parade Billie 5 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Thanks for your answers all -
Miss M came closest as a person of faith answering this seriously. One further question tho - if they mean "faith in a higher being" do they admire faith in Allah? Faith in Thor and Zeus? How about those people that killed themselves because god was coming on a death comet? (That was a LOT of faith)
2006-10-25 09:26:44 · update #1
No, I don't admire faith. To me, it is nothing more than muddled thinking combined with an irrational emotional attachment to some position. Why would that be considered admirable?
2006-10-25 09:24:27 · answer #1 · answered by lenny 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Faith in other people, not faith that lady luck "might" turn up something better coz that rarely happens.
Even faith in other people can be misplaced though and faith in a God is an issue widely debated. Do I admire it as a character trait..not sure...there are others I would admire much more!
2006-10-25 09:23:16 · answer #2 · answered by huggz 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes I admire it as a character trait.
So what if someone believes that they have the lotto winner?
What does that have to do with anything?
Plenty of people have put thier faith in falsehoods,how does that weaken faith?
I have faith that space is a vacuum,I don't need to go there to find out for myself.
The faith of someone in a falsehood is faith in a lie and a false god.
This seems a naive question.
If someone declares that faith is what they believe in and no other beliefs are allowed is placing themselves in the stead of God.
No one knows everything.
2006-10-25 09:30:02 · answer #3 · answered by Den 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Everyone is born with a measure of faith. How you use it is up to you. But God gives the in cease. Also faith without works is dead. If you have a gain of faith the size of a mustard seed and believe. You can move mountains! Just don't stop believing in God.
2006-10-25 09:28:09 · answer #4 · answered by see 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Faith,hope and charity r three virtures of christinity. They do however pretain towards the common good. An example is u could have faith in the morality of our leaders and hope God would guide them towards a common good of the peole entrusted to their care. And charity would be more around sharing to make sure all r feed and safe.Faith in a race track,thats not from God.My personal opinion is gambling should be illegal. God Bless Curious 2006 .
2006-10-25 09:25:14 · answer #5 · answered by Curious 2006 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You are not talking about faith in the religious realm in your analogies. You are describing feelings of luck or chance. Faith is an allegiance to God and a belief in the traditional doctrines of the Bible. Chance is something that happens unpredictably without discernible human intention or observable cause.
2006-10-25 09:24:19 · answer #6 · answered by roxy 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's a character flaw.
I'm firmly of the opinion that a belief is logically unjustified if it's supported by neither reason nor evidence, and faith is a "belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence", as dictionary.com says. Faith, to me, is a belief which has no connection with reality and is therefore self-defeating, since we could equally well have faith in both the existence *and* non-existence of a thing, with absolutely no way of knowing which was true. What's the use in that? Faith is of no value.
2006-10-25 09:21:14 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
I admire faith as far as religion goes.Without faith,you are just being lame and following the crowd.Stepping foward in faith is better than stepping foward because it the popular move.
An example-
Say your freinds are all "Hardcore"Catholics.In your heart you know you have no faith in it at all but rather in a different religion,but you still follow Catholic teachings because thats what EVERYONE else is doing.I admire your friends more than you,because they are actually following what they truly believe in.Now if you were to step up to the plate and follow what your heart truly has faith in,then that is worth admiration.
2006-10-25 09:21:43 · answer #8 · answered by Myaloo 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋
I think blind faith as in faith in a religion or faith that "god will show me the way" is a sign of fear and a weak mind. I think faith in your own ability to persevere or faith in real concepts like freedom or humanity or democracy are admirable.
Good question!
2006-10-25 09:23:49 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Well, I do not admire the "faith" of those who believe they can manipulate God with such selfish prayers as those. "Please God, if you let this horse win, then I will never bet with the rent money again." God would not want such a person to win their bet because it blinds them to the bigger problem, which is stealing from the family to support his bad habit. Such people as these do not have faith in God, but in their own bad habits and in themselves. What if the father did win? Guess what happens next...he forgets God and believes it is "luck" or his gambling skills. God is out of the picture for that person. So again they believe or have faith in themselves and not God.
The Christian who has true faith is transformed by what he or she believes about God. Faith in God elevates us to understand mysteries of life and Himself. Faith (the theological gift given by God) gives the person the ability to believe all that athiests call "fable" or "fantasy" about God. And so, faith is not primarily a thing within our created nature (as most athiests and christians believe). We have the faculty in our nature to receive faith, but it is not an original part of our nature. Also, it is not a person's intitiative and decision that makes up faith. Faith is not a human thing, but a gift from God to help understand what He revealed about Himself to us.
Now as far as what the human person does with faith is the second part of faith. Faith, once given to us, enables us to respond to the mystery of God. We decide to retain what is revealed and abide in a relationship with this mysterious God according to His will (since His will is strictly for our benefit and not His own). And so, I hope this helps you understand that faith is not merely a human concept and neither does a person who is too weak to remain in faith proves that faith is weak or non-existent.
May the Lord bless and keep you. May He let the light of His face shine upon you.
God's and your beast of burden
Fr. john
2006-10-25 09:46:09 · answer #10 · answered by som 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋