Doesn’t everyone have faith whether they are religious,spiritual, or an atheist??

Question

I read this comment and it just didn’t ring true to me:

“I cannot respect anyone who lives by faith, in anything, for faith is merely ignorance by another name.” Brent Y

I think it takes faith that you will wake up when you go to sleep.
I think it takes faith to believe in your children.
I think it takes faith to believe in a loved one.
I think it takes faith in yourself to attend college.
I think all humans have faith in some form.

Does this mean that all humans are ignorant because they have faith?

Answer 1

Faith is beyond religion.

Faith is human natural,

It is the source to grow.

It is the motivation to improve.

Faith in heart is the path of life.

Answer 2

I understand the thrust of your question, but there is a distinction to be made. The cases you cite are more a case of making assumptions that if something/someone has always behaved in a certain way, then that behavior will tend to continue unless some (more or less) extraordinary factors come into play.

In other words, we DO exhibit what you might call "faith" in the lawfulness of cause-effect, etc. And even in these cases, we can be wrong - and are sometimes obliged to rethink, or modify, our "faith" in a particular belief.

The type of faith that comes under severe criticism is the kind that denies the very need for corroboration, and accepts no criticism whatsoever. You may have "faith" in your spouse, but I'm sure you can conjure exactly what it would take for you to lose that "faith." There is, to put it briefly, a sense that "faith" is justified as long as it works, or meshes with reality in general. When a "faith" is based on tenets that are inherently "unquestionable," then indeed it is ignorance ... or worse.

Answer 3

Yes. We all have faith.

The difference between the religious person and the atheist is in how they revere faith. As an atheist, I see faith as something to be minimized, not relied upon.

I would rather have some assurance that things are well-enough when I go to sleep that I'll wake up tomorrow.
I would rather do the right thing for my children to make it more likely that they have a good life.
I would rather communicate with my loved one, so I know what to do to ensure we have a good life together.
I would rather study and learn so I have a better idea of where my career should go.

Each of those takes some faith, because we really have a lack of information about them. However, a lack of information is generally a bad thing. If I go to bed, I have some faith that nothing will happen during the night. If I had information that a meteor would crash through my house and hit that bed, I would appreciate that additional information and sleep somewhere else. I wouldn't just rely on my faith to somehow move that meteor elsewhere.

Answer 4

When you stretch the definition of "faith" like this, it loses its meaning.

You could say I have "faith" that the sun is going to rise tomorrow even if there's a "chance" I'm wrong, or "faith" that I believe Italy exists even though I've never been there. But this is all knowledge based on PHYSICAL EVIDENCE, not personal spiritual revelations. It's also based on multiple, independent sources and related experiences, not subjective one-time experiences.

Basically, you're trying to use solipsism to argue for something objectively, which doesn't make any sense. Also, if it turns out Italy doesn't exist and I have been duped, then I incorporate this new knowledge into how I know the world. Religious faith doesn't work like that.

Furthermore, in your examples you're trying to use the word "faith" to not only mean a belief that's not based on objective evidence (which is what the word means), but also a synonym for things like "trust" in your family example, and "self-confidence" in your college example. These are all different concepts.

Answer 5

God has given everyone a measure of faith, and we could not live without it. If you did not have faith that the walls would hold up the roof, you would never go in your house. And if you didn't have faith that the store is stocked with food you would never go grocery shopping.

Neither of the examples I gave are absolutes, sometimes roofs cave in, and sometimes stores run out of of food, but we still go in the house and we still go grocery shopping and we do it by faith. Everything that everyone ever does is done by faith! And without faith we would be absolutely frozen with fear.

It is not a matter of having faith or not having faith. What's important is the object of faith. God want us to have faith in Jesus just like we have faith in them walls, and more so, because the walls can fail, Jesus can not fail. The food at the store will spoil, but the spiritual food that Jesus gives us will last forever.

Don't pay any attention to what Brent Y said, he doesn't know what he is talking about.
It is bad enough to not know the truth, that is ignorance.
but to not want to learn the truth is even worse.
The ignorant can be taught, but there is no hope at all for those who are willfully ignorant.
I wish christians would start teaching those who want to know the truth, and quit trying to teach those who don't care because that is a total waste of time.

Answer 6

The problem with this is that several different meanings of 'faith' are being used here. In all those sentences starting 'I think it takes', just replace 'faith' with 'trust' or even 'hope' and it'll still make sense. What Brent Y is talking about is something else - faith in the sense of a belief in something that can't ever be proved. That's why it's being said to be 'ignorance'.

I don't know that I completely agree with Brent Y (whoever he may be), but certainly to base everything about your life on a faith in something and its supposed 'word', with no reference to your own common sense or ethical discrimination, would be ignorant.

Answer 7

I suspect that there is a bit of ambivalence at work here. Each of us has a set of assumptions about how the world works, so that we can operate on a daily basis. To that extent we each have faith. When we reach for a light switch, or step onto an elevator we are performing an act of faith.

You might want to ask Brent to define his terms, and you and he can come to some sort of agreement as to what is meant by "faith."

Answer 8

Actually, it takes health to know you will wake up after you go to sleep. It takes love to believe in your children. It takes love to believe in a loved one. It takes study and hardwork to attend college.

Not all human are ignorant because they have faith, but human are ignorant if they rely on faith alone. All you had mentioned needs faith, no doubt, but at the same time it requires something else, call evidence.

If you do not have health, you will not have faith you can wake up. If your children or loved one do not show their love openly, you will not have faith they love you. If you do not study hard, you will not have faith at college.

However, for imaginary creature, the only two thing you have is :

a. faith
b. an outdated unproven book.

Answer 9

Yes I DO believe that everyone has some form of faith in them. Like you said it takes faith that you will wake up every morning, it takes faith that your children will be safe when you send them out into the world every day, their are so many things in our every day life that takes faith . And I do think that even atheists have faith, it may not be in God but they do have faith.

Answer 10

Yes to your first question. People have blind faith if they do not have a living, vital relationship with the Creator who gave them everything they need to perceive beyond the external every day givens, i.e., the sun comes up, shines, God gave them a loving family as much as he provides all the details like photosynthesis for food, HOWEVER continuation of this builds no faith but only a satient expectation of sameness and whiny dullness which God did not want to build. God expects us to go beyond to see and read in the Bible how true faith builds on from no belief in the staples and stables of life except on Him. Anyone can have faith, but only those who love life desparately will find what is worthy of faith to trust in completely, even for eternal life. Jesus Christ came for those who would seek Him just that desparately and wholly. He is the prize pearl of great price who can be easy to approach as a little child would, but who calls each to climb out of their comfortable boat and walk on water looking to Jesus Himself for the faith -- He is the author and perfector of true faith.

Answer 11

I don't think the examples you cite are "faith" at all. You assume you will wake up in the morning because you have done so all your life. This is a logical assumption. You believe in your children because you know them and their behavior and their personalities. You believe in other loved ones for the same reasons. You go to college because you want to learn and have opportunities in life that you would not have without an education. None of these have anything to do with "faith."