Why do religious people like blind faith?

Question

Faith being belief in the absence of proof and which in anything except religion is considered to be stupid.

Answer 1

That's because, it's all they have.

Answer 2

Faith being belief in the absence of proof

In order to answer your question I have to correct your understanding of what faith is. Faith means to trust that something is true, it doesn't necessarily mean that there is no evidence to support that trust. It only means that the trust is regarding something which you have no absolute proof for like 2 + 2 equaling 4.

A person can have faith that their car will get them to work because it has done so since they have owned it. That doesn't mean that they don't realize that it might not start or that an accident could occur on the way to work that might make their faith untrue on any particular day.

When it comes to the Christian religion people have faith that the writings in the Bible come from divine revelation. That doesn't mean that there are not things that are hard to understand and to square with some of the things that we see in the world around us.

For instance we have the apparent evidence of animal fossils that go back for millions of years. Then we have the idea that the Bible teaches that the earth is only about 6,000 years old. The facts are that the Bible doesn't say how old the earth is http://www.christianity.co.nz/science7.htm and that science has a pattern over the centuries of accepting things as true only to later on discover new evidence and technology so that modern scientists shake their heads and smile at what their past contemporaries once believed.

There is evidence to support the divine revelation of the Bible http://www.jesus-is-lord.com/divine.htm as well as to support the life, death and resurrection from the dead of Jesus Christ. If one is pre-disposed to reject that evidence then it may not be "sufficient" evidence for that individual, but it is nonetheless evidence that an impartial person could conclude left the matter open to further investigation and that the beliefs were not based merely upon so called "blind faith".

Here's one link to demonstrate the point from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Law School web site.

http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/jesus/greenleaf.html

Testimony of the Evangelists by Simon Greenleaf (1783-1853)

Greenleaf, one of the principle founders of the Harvard Law School, originally set out to disprove the biblical testimony concerning the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He was certain that a careful examination of the internal witness of the Gospels would dispel all the myths at the heart of Christianity. But this legal scholar came to the conclusion that the witnesses were reliable, and that the resurrection did in fact happen.

Answer 3

firstly theres a difference between faith and blind faith... not all faith is blind.

you have faith that gravity won't suddenly cease to function. don't claim you don't, you do.

your experience leads you to the conclusion that it won't suddenly cease to apply. and this is just fine.

but whats actually implied, is that it won't cease to function... without a reason. and the fact that science has not yet observed a phenomena (to my knowlege) that would suspend it, does not mean that it can't occur. you have faith that such an event will not occur within your lifetime.

yes, you do. or rather, you could say that you trust that the the odds are in your favor for this to not occur, to such an extent that the chance of it occuring is not a problem to you.

some people belive in things blindly. and I agree 100% that this is bad.

but the problem is, that while for you, everything that is not objectively provable to be a certain way , might seem like its believed in blindly... in reality its not as simple. some people factually DO experience things that are real, and do exist, yet cannot at this time, be proven by science to even exist or to be as they are intepereted to be.

if I didn't have at least a remote fathoming of a concept of the nature of something, why would I belive in it? as a finite being in a finite perspective, its deifnitionally impossible to completely "grasp" an infinite concept, but I can vaguely conceptualize and project the microcosm that I can understand, as a representation of the greater system, either directly or as an analogy.

personally I do not consider myself to have "faith" as I do not like the term, for exactly as this is question points out, its too easily confused and unclear. I prefer to consider what I have, to be "Trust".

just as one might trust another person with something, I trust what I call God and various other personifications of God's will, to be as they are best to be.

its funny, so much is so much more clear and obvious when you simply give up the concept of "coincidence". it brings things into focus in suprising ways.

as they say, "Coincidences are little miracles in which God wishes to remain anonymous"

Answer 4

I am spiritual, but can not put myself in any particular religious sect.

However, your question seems to be based on assumptions that everything has a scientific reason and that is simply not true.

Faith is not blind. It is an understanding that there are things that we do not understand yet. There was an example that our creator (whether you think of it as a force, a God, or whatever) is so complex that our simple minds will never conceive it. Much like there are frequencies we can not see or hear but exists all around us.

Faith is to admit we don't know everything. If you think otherwise, you are very naive.

[This is for Set's reply below]
Since you're on quoting Einstein, I think he's laughing at you. He laughs at non-believers.
http://www.einsteinandreligion.com/atheism.html

Answer 5

Not blind at all.
But first, let me distinguish between 'religion' or 'being religious' and Christianity or being a Christian. (yes, I know that many Christians are religious).
Religious - following a set or rules, customs or laws which have a "spiritual" aim.
Christianity - A relationship with Jesus.

Faith, to a Christian is believing what God has said is true. Not blind at all but seeing the unseen.

Answer 6

How about
1Cor 3:18-21
Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a "fool" so that he may become wise.
For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight. As it is written: "He catches the wise in their craftiness";
and again, "The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile."
but What is the question?

Answer 7

Wow, that's so totally right. =]

A complete and blind faith in (insert religion here) is "okay", while the same thing in anything else is ridiculous.

Nice question, but I don't know the answer. =[ Maybe it's because there IS no proof and "blind faith" is all they can have.

Answer 8

Which religious people are you referring to,and can you prove it ? I certainly don't have "blind faith."

Answer 9

One of my favorite quotes from Albert Einstein is, "Blind respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth." It is so true. Skylolo said that religious people also like the truth. I would argue that they can't handle the truth and that their religious beliefs are based on a primitive, childish, and irrational fear.

Answer 10

Do you think religion could survive if people just ONCE engaged their intellects and THOUGHT about what they are being told to believe? Even for a second?

Answer 11

I don't think religious "like" blind faith. I think some religious people are "blind".