What is the reason that many religious people regard unquestioning faith as a virtue?

Seeing as any god who created the universe we live in must have been fairly scientifically minded, wouldn't he rather we questioned and tried to understand his creation and his existence than just to accept it as it is?

On the other hand, I can see how faith could be seen as a sign of devotion to a god, and therefore a good thing.

What do y'all think? What are your views on the importance of faith, and why do you think people perceive it as a virtue?

On the contrary, a person with true religious pursuits questions everything. They rely on the guidance that come from people and books, but through it all personal experience is what matters. Blind faith is a very negative thing that comes from brainwashing. Believe everything, but believe nothing till you find out for yourself.

On the contrary, a person with true religious pursuits questions everything. They rely on the guidance that come from people and books, but through it all personal experience is what matters. Blind faith is a very negative thing that comes from brainwashing. Believe everything, but believe nothing till you find out for yourself.

That's your view, and its a view I would agree with. But many religious people do see faith as a good thing, such as most of mainstream Christianity, and what I was really getting at was the question of why people take that view. Any ideas?

Faith... There are two kinds:

> Blind Faith- That which is practiced by fundamentalist and fanatics. Those who listen to that Charismatic Pastor who is able to make you think anything he wants you to think. This faith is more closely related to brainwashing and an annoying degree of stubbornness, than faith.

> True Faith- Confidence that your beliefs have a reason and a purpose to see you through hard times. Few people have enough confidence in their beliefs that they will actually practice the other virtues of their religion. True faith is hard to find.


Faith by definition means confidence in a person or plan.

When I say have faith I mean be confident in your beliefs.

Atheist have faith that there is no God just as a Theist has faith that there is a God. The difference is that one side within both groups just hear what everyone else is talking about and go with that while the other side in both groups have had a personal level of experience seeing the world with(out) a God so they have faith in their experience.

I welcome a person (theist, or not) who bases their beliefs on experience more so than a person who just listens to someone else and spreads the message of what they heard without trying to have an intimate connection to their beliefs. ;)

Main Entry: 1faith
Pronunciation: \ˈfāth\
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural faiths \ˈfāths, sometimes ˈfāthz\
Etymology: Middle English feith, from Anglo-French feid, fei, from Latin fides; akin to Latin fidere to trust — more at bide
Date: 13th century
1 a: allegiance to duty or a person : loyalty b (1): fidelity to one's promises (2): sincerity of intentions
2 a (1): belief and trust in and loyalty to God (2): belief in the traditional doctrines of a religion b (1): firm belief in something for which there is no proof (2): complete trust
3: something that is believed especially with strong conviction; especially : a system of religious beliefs <the Protestant faith>

The above is from an on-line dictionary, but a wiki article would include "faith" to also mean belief based on reason or evidence. Personally, I lean towards the perhaps cynical definition of faith:

"when you believe something you know isn't true."

Seriously, folks, what is usually considered faith rests on either early programming or trust in authority -- "Jesus loves me, this I know--for the Bible tells me so"--a strikingly circular argument.

Faith is having a belief even when it isn't inter-subjectively justifiable. A belief is having "more confidence than not" in a proposition. I'm not sure I really buy into the proposed blind/true faith dichotomy, as described above it sort of smells of "no true Scotsman" reasoning.

Blind faith appeals to ignorance... Most people just say "Yea, I believe" but dont have anything else more to back this up, they dont have spiritual quest they have just this spiritual stasis where the just believe and thats it. Yep, I believe... Some are more extreme pushing their view on you but they themselves are ignorant as well, its blind faith, The Gospel of Thomas covers this very well:

"If a blind man leads a blind man both will fall into a hole!" This is the message to those evangelizing preachers! Those bible pounding nutjobs! Hey, their blind and yet they say there faithful either way their not going to get much out of the religious dogma!

Whereas...

Truth faith is backed up by some experience... To the Gnostic it is Gnosis, Sophia, Pronoia (or Providence I believe), mystical experience, revelations! Even to the Christian Mystics (whose messages sound distinctly Gnostic... ironically). Something revealing that pulls away at the veil this pulling away of the veil allows one to maintain a true faith that something in ones life is their to help them and because, of that they have confidence in something more, something transcendental. They will get something out of the experience of the Spiritual tradition.

Ones based on vivid experience while awake while another is based on dogma and doctrine, who do you think is more faithful? The person who hears of something or the person who experienced that particular something? Hence, why I say Christianity has become secondhand doctrine and dogma where ones faith is not in God but in what other men say is God!