2003-02-01 - 6:07 a.m.

Faith

This entry began in my head when I read Minderella's entry for her particpation in the dlrealworld. She was talking politics which lead her to make a comment about beliefs. Which lead to a comment from me in her guestbook and a response from her in her next entry. For the lazy, let me paste the quotes here:

Minderella : [Snipped from Original Entry] "don't cry and whine if you really believe what you're saying. just say it and explain yourself. if you can't justify your position, it's because the position is flawed or you are mentally incompetent."

Bingoguy : [In M's Guestbook] "So, darlin, Are you saying it's impossible to believe something without having all the facts as to why it is so? Or are you saying people that have faith in things they don't understand are just mentally incompetent?"

Minderella: [From Her Next Entry] : "yes, i am saying that people who have faith in things they don't understand are mentally incompetent. at first i thought you were trying to needle me or something, but when i re-read it, that's an accurate description of what i think. i'm too scientific and analytical to be able to understand how people can just believe bullshit that's shoved down their throat. at least try to understand what you stand for."

Wow. That probably means there's a whole lot of "mentally incompetent" people running around then. Why do I say that? Well, Because I think almost every person in the world has faith in something they don't quite completely understand.

Let's look at the defintion of the word :
Faith (noun)
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

Definition Courtesty of Merriam-Webster

For my commentary here. I'm focusing on the 2b defintion "firm belief in something for which there is no proof"

People use faith everyday. They do it when they turn on a light, turn on a water faucet, wait for a bus, dial a phone. Now some of these things you may not know how they work or have proof why they work (or exist) but they do. Is one mentally incompetent for thinking such? Now, some may say there is proof to show these things work. But, does everyone have the proof or is the proof out there somewhere for the person yet undiscovered?

I really believe there's nothing wrong with a person having faith in something or someone that they have no proof of. Whatever helps you make it through life really. You shouldn't belittle someone for not completely understanding something they believe in. Although, on the other hand, I think it's silly not to keep looking or to accept things as the only way to do something. It all goes hand in hand.

I believe in God. Which will probably make some people dismiss what I say here just by that statement alone. I am not one to force my opinions about God on anyone. If you ask me, that's a different story. I believe I'm a Christian but I don't feel like I have the same thinking as most Christian who attend a church. Spirtuality is a personal thing. Where your at is never exactly where anyone else is at so how could you possibly have the same vision?

Which brings me to another thought. The Human Spirit. Do we have any proof that exists? Not tangible that's for sure. Yet, I doubt there's many people on this planet that wouldn't say we all have some kind of life force in us. That thing that makes the whole system tick. That sense of being deep within us.

It's things like that which make me believe in ghosts too. If physics is right and matter can't be destoryed only transfered into a different form of matter. Then it goes to reason, yet we don't have proof, that the human spirit when it "dies" transfers into some other form of matter. Perhaps that is what ghosts are? Perhaps not. But there's not any proof the other way either.

There's more to this world than meets the eye. When I hear the term atheist, I tend not to think of a person who doesn't believe in God but someone who doesn't believe anything unless it smacks them across the face. To me, that's close mindness and you're not open to new ideas or ideas not yet proven. This, of course, is a generalized statement so there would exceptions.

Dreamers. People that let the imagination soar. The creative types. The writer, the painter and the musician. They often see worlds without boundries, without rules, and without proof. Where would we be in this world if it wasn't for the dreamers.

Take a look at Science Fiction from yesteryear. Those people wrote about things they couldn't prove would happen. The incredible part is that a lot of those things have happened. Alot more of them are going to happen. I have no proof of that but history does tend to repeat itself.

Now, I respect Minderella and her point of view. I've never been one to say someone else can't have an opinion different than mine. Infact, I hope people do. I also enjoy a person who stands behind what they believe. My comment in Minderella's Guestbook was an attempt to challenge her way of thinking. The fact she told me she went back to re-read what she wrote makes me believe I, at least, made her double check her way of thinking. I know I am not gonna change anyones mind with my ramblings. I just hope we always challenge the ways we think. Challenges in thinking tend to lead to new ways of thinking or even different approaches to thinking.

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