We hear a lot about "people of faith" and immediately we think about religious people. Faith is in each of us and it's a good thing. Faith is the belief in something without certainty of its truth. When you drive through a green light, it is faith that lets you believe the guy who has the red light will stop. He doesn't always stop. Most of what we believe is upon the authority of others. Most people believe anything scientists say on faith even though there have been too many cases of faked science and often just poor science. If it were not for faith and we depended entirely upon reason, we would become paralyzed, afraid to do much of anything.
Reason is the companion of faith. Reason tells us that, even though not always perfect, faith allows us to do things we otherwise would shun. Reason also leads us to truths, at least truths that our limited intelligence can accept, and these truths lead to a basis for our beliefs and actions.
Reasonable people would have to believe that all that exists in the material world had to have been created by a force which pre-existed matter, which was itself non-material but able to create matter. Naming that force isn't necessary but for the sake of talking about it, a name makes it easier. If you like, call it "The Force", and may it be with you. Faith is not needed to accept this idea. It's logical.
On the other hand, people of "faith" believe that the universal force which created all matter has a special attachment to the people he created. Like any benevolent father, he gave them everything they needed to survive, prosper and be happy. When, like spoiled children, they turned to defiance and bad behavior, he punished them and extended the punishment to their children. It seems that as the years passed by and his anger subsided, in the way of apology, he decided to give his people a second chance. First he wanted them to know that in spite of what he had done to them earlier, he really loved them. To do that, he had to do something really spectacular.
He decided that, in the custom of his people, he would have to make a tremendous sacrifice to show the sincerity of his love. His plan was to send himself among them, in the form of a human man, to instruct and suffer for them and eventually sacrifice his life for them. Now that is love!
Belief in the creator's continued interest in his creation in the way described above takes faith. Logically, there can be no basis to believe all that. It sounds like a fairy tale and it's understandable that some would take it that way if they were not aware of the full story and the facts which at least suggest that all that could be true. The leap of faith from "maybe", "possibly", "probably" and "absolutely" is hard but once you reach that destination it's like the skies open up and you see the world for the first time.
We should all be reasonable whenever possible but when faith is needed to allow you to take the next step, go with faith.
Reason is the companion of faith. Reason tells us that, even though not always perfect, faith allows us to do things we otherwise would shun. Reason also leads us to truths, at least truths that our limited intelligence can accept, and these truths lead to a basis for our beliefs and actions.
Reasonable people would have to believe that all that exists in the material world had to have been created by a force which pre-existed matter, which was itself non-material but able to create matter. Naming that force isn't necessary but for the sake of talking about it, a name makes it easier. If you like, call it "The Force", and may it be with you. Faith is not needed to accept this idea. It's logical.
On the other hand, people of "faith" believe that the universal force which created all matter has a special attachment to the people he created. Like any benevolent father, he gave them everything they needed to survive, prosper and be happy. When, like spoiled children, they turned to defiance and bad behavior, he punished them and extended the punishment to their children. It seems that as the years passed by and his anger subsided, in the way of apology, he decided to give his people a second chance. First he wanted them to know that in spite of what he had done to them earlier, he really loved them. To do that, he had to do something really spectacular.
He decided that, in the custom of his people, he would have to make a tremendous sacrifice to show the sincerity of his love. His plan was to send himself among them, in the form of a human man, to instruct and suffer for them and eventually sacrifice his life for them. Now that is love!
Belief in the creator's continued interest in his creation in the way described above takes faith. Logically, there can be no basis to believe all that. It sounds like a fairy tale and it's understandable that some would take it that way if they were not aware of the full story and the facts which at least suggest that all that could be true. The leap of faith from "maybe", "possibly", "probably" and "absolutely" is hard but once you reach that destination it's like the skies open up and you see the world for the first time.
We should all be reasonable whenever possible but when faith is needed to allow you to take the next step, go with faith.
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