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if god has path planned out, why do we need faith? why do people pray? to make themselves feel better and hope for the best? why not just pick ourselves up and move on aiming to do better in the future instead of making ourselves believe for mental comfort (for some..i guess)? why have faith? why not have a goal and do best to achieve it. if unsuccessful, oh well...did your best, and moving on.

I guess you don't own a religion do you?  Its been very lucrative for those that do, so faith been 'berry, berry good to them." 

Some people need to believe, others look for a reason to believe, still others don't even bother with the question.  I'm not sure that in either, any, or all cases, that can be related to being happy.

i don't feel like saying anything against faith at the moment, but i feel that if i reply honestly, i will  say something that rubs someone the wrong way.  :(

i think i read somewhere that some people who have faith actually have more endorphins when they are believing. well, mental comfort is worth something, isn't it?

i believe a dog needs to have a certain amount of freedom to explore and express his essential dogginess, or else he will not have a fulfilled life. but dogs are so full of love and so eager to please their masters, that the owner must be careful not to hinder this exploration.

people are very similar. so full of love and eager to fit in the group. but, deprived of the freedom to explore and express their essential humanness, they become so full of anger, bitterness, wayward yearnings. in a word, lost to the possibility of a fulfilled life.

-ellie

Quote from: ell on January 27, 2008, 04:09:03 PM
i don't feel like saying anything against faith at the moment, but i feel that if i reply honestly, i will  say something that rubs someone the wrong way.  :(

i think i read somewhere that some people who have faith actually have more endorphins when they are believing. well, mental comfort is worth something, isn't it?

i believe a dog needs to have a certain amount of freedom to explore and express his essential dogginess, or else he will not have a fulfilled life. but dogs are so full of love and so eager to please their masters, that the owner must be careful not to hinder this exploration.

people are very similar. so full of love and eager to fit in the group. but, deprived of the freedom to explore and express their essential humanness, they become so full of anger, bitterness, wayward yearnings. in a word, lost to the possibility of a fulfilled life.

-ellie

uummmm

I know what you are saying but we all have an opinion, I pray every day but dont think there is any one listniing.  ??? You have to beleive but it is hard some times. Faith is possibly one of the eaiest things. You either hav it or you dont.  >:D :angel: >:D :angel:

Quote from: Lucy on January 27, 2008, 04:50:02 PM
uummmm

I know what you are saying but we all have an opinion

you know what i'm saying? i'm saying that for me, faith itself is one of the things that will prevent me from comprehending the world as it really is; that it will cause a breach in my understanding. that understanding is my birthright. and that to throw such a thing away for the comfort of (what seems to be) a self-deception is, for me, a very poor exchange. that's what i was trying to say, but i didn't say it at first because i thought it would (yet again) offend someone. sorry, all you faithful believers! i'm crawling back to my little corner now.

-ellie

My opinion would be that it depends on the individual, and the definition of "faith" used.

Sara

 ::)  well My opinion would be that it depends on the individual . and there faith and what they  belive in.

it used to be  a touchy are for me and some times still is . but i can say i have faith and a belive. but iam not

relougues presay .  even tho in my past it could be said i went to church  any time there was a serverices

but iam  not going to go into that  then right there. but i can still say i have faith  but like i siad  in the

begining on this post  and that is it depends on the individual . and there faith and what they  belive in.

just my thoughts on this matter  :)

Quote from: Natasha on January 27, 2008, 03:34:11 AM
if god has path planned out, why do we need faith? why do people pray? to make themselves feel better and hope for the best? why not just pick ourselves up and move on aiming to do better in the future instead of making ourselves believe for mental comfort (for some..i guess)? why have faith? why not have a goal and do best to achieve it. if unsuccessful, oh well...did your best, and moving on.

If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything.

And what if there is really a Supreme Being?  I'd prefer meeting with someone who knows how grateful I am for the Supreme Being's kindness to me in this life.  I'd rather err on the side of caution.

At least to me.

Wing Walker
Never Flying Alone

God made me an agnostic, who are you to argue with it?

Quote from: tekla on January 28, 2008, 01:20:44 AM
God made me an agnostic, who are you to argue with it?

LOL!!!  I love the logic!

Wing Walker

Works as well as any other Bronze Age bedtime story.

Are there powers in the universe we don't understand.  Sure.  Far beyond our ability to know at this point.  Remember that Hubble pretty much changed the number of galaxies from thousands (perhaps) to millions, if not billions overnight.  That alone is going to take some time to come to grips with.

If u dont believe in God at least u gotta have faith in urself.  faith keeps me goin. 

Quote from: Chris on January 28, 2008, 02:09:50 AM
If u dont believe in God at least u gotta have faith in urself.  faith keeps me goin. 

Spot on Chris, I guess I was mixing faith up with religion.

But soem times faith in yourself isnt enough >:D

Faith is believing in something you can not prove.  What you have in yourself, for yourself is confidence.  You might have faith in the future, that things will come out OK.  Because you can't prove the future.  But in yourself, that's different.

I don't know if anyone in particular needs faith.  I know that I feel comfort in my faith in a higher power, but I also know that I have goals and do my best to achieve them. My faith will not achieve them for me, my faith only gives me the determination to do the best I can do.

As for God's plan, well I would suppose He may have a grand plan, but does not have our lives individually planned. If he did, that would negate "free will," and that is something we all have. The how, why , when and if, of our coming to terms with our own faith or lack of it is personal and should always be so.
We should always be free to come together in faith or not, it is our decision and freedom.

Hmm, i have a really cynical opinion on this lol.
I think some people not all!
Believe in god or what ever so they have some one to blame if they cant pin it on any one else. Like if some one has an accident, and its obviously their fault. They'll blame god. Or ask 'why have you done this to me?' and other things. They blame god or who ever they believe in because they know they cant blame any one else.

hmmm Well, I consider myself a Christian. I have my gods, one of whom is the Hebrew god, but faith? ummm NOOOOOO.
I don't think so.  ::) As if the gods actually seek to please us.  :icon_chuckel:

i think were like rats in a maze some times =]

Don't kid yourself, rats in a maze have a much better life than most humans.

Quote from: tekla on January 28, 2008, 02:37:28 AM
Faith is believing in something you can not prove.  What you have in yourself, for yourself is confidence.  You might have faith in the future, that things will come out OK.  Because you can't prove the future.  But in yourself, that's different.

We all need hope, because it counteracts despair, and what is hope but a form of faith? Lose all hope, and what is there to live for, really? We need that security as a psychological buffer against adversity.

So yeah, we do need faith, but not blind beliefs. People confuse the two, and that's where stuff starts going pear-shaped.

There is a big difference between rational thinking and nonintellectual thinking. Faith is not rational.

Quote from: redfish the mad on March 05, 2008, 11:25:18 AM
But, in the end, you need to have faith in rationality in order to use it.

um, have you really gon mad?

QuoteI'm not saying I don't agree with using reasoning, but there's no way to prove its validity without being circular.

Repeated experiments from different angles with the same results. Metaphysics does not yield that. Probability needs to be near certain. That will give you facts to be rational with.

Quote from: lisagurl on March 05, 2008, 12:01:21 PM

QuoteI'm not saying I don't agree with using reasoning, but there's no way to prove its validity without being circular.

Repeated experiments from different angles with the same results. Metaphysics does not yield that. Probability needs to be near certain. That will give you facts to be rational with.

i agree (with lisagurl?) that facts and results (along with a solid knowledge base) should carry you very far. we don't actually have to re-invent the wheel here. as for things that are unknowable, maybe they are unknowable for a reason. i frankly like a bit of mystery in my life.

besides, if i do say i know what's up in a field that's virtually unknowable, i will be isolating my thought to one single path within a realm where infinite paths are available. why would i want to do that?

-ellie