Why do some people think that faith is a virtue, rather than a character flaw?
348096
T.S. Eliot said mankind cannot bear very much reality.  Faith is a psychological crutch, the thing that keeps you from going mad every time you remember that you, too, are going to die and there's nothing to be done about it and it's just so massively unfair.  Naturally nobody would ever admit this.  When getting an education and applying logic and reason are so very difficult and frightening, it's "only human" to take the easy way out.\n\nWhich means, come to think of it, that faith isn't really a virtue! Virtue is supposed to be a matter of making hard choices -- otherwise it's valueless.\n\nI suppose the reason why people value faith (despite all of this) is that they have nothing better to put in its place -- after all, they've already given up on reality.  When you've chosen to discard the very best thing going, what the hell else is there except a fantasy.
230410
Faith in Goodness is easy, maybe even natural. \nThe key is the difference between Faith and Religion. \nFaith is a personal believe that can not be taught, only be learned. \nMost modern Religions push specific details of how to worship, what days are sacred, how other Religions are wrong and details of life that have nothing to do with Goodness.\nI believe in Goodness, even the power of Goodness. With as powerful as that is, the rest of the details do not really matter.
70896
It's really only the fundamentalists in certain religions that believe that kind of foolishness. There are lots of religious people who have progressive, inclusive, and ecumenical understandings of their faith. There are lots of religious people who while devoted to their own faith, respect other faiths as spiritual paths.
720740
That's why they call it faith. You either believe or not.
105933
People have a need to believe in something outside of themselves. Some people believe in reason. Some people believe in a god. It is what ever works for you and you should not try to put down another’s beliefs
908125
Faith is not faith until you do question it.  However, as the faith grows the number of times we question it becomes less.  Let me give an example.  This is not from the area of religion but rather bridge building.  My friend Mike was taking Engineering at university.  As part of one of his courses he had to build something.  Mike decided to build a bridge.  When he was finished he had built a suspension bridge over a 30foot deep ravine.  It was only a foot bridge and since it was made with cables it often swayed in the wind.  When he was finished, he asked all the neighbours to come over.  The question he asked was something like this,  "Who has enough faith to walk across the bridge?"  I was not the first volunteer.  If the bridge broke, it was 30 ft straight down. After my first time across I said a little prayer of thankgiving.  Now I think nothing of running and even jumping up and down the bridge.  I have faith that the bridge will support me.  \n\nNow we come to the second part of faith.  It needs what I call "Constant Maintenance Questioning".  If we go back to the bridge,  every year I ask Mike if he has painted the cables above ground and tarred the cables that are underground.  I realize that cables rust.  If they are not maintained, one day the cables will rust through and when someone is on the bridge it will fall.  They will go down 30 ft.  They may even die.\n\nI have found that most people embrace the first questioning of faith.  However, they do not  follow up with that "Constant Maintenance Questioning" that is needed to have that faith grow and develop.
929726
Faith is not right or wrong. It just addresses all of the I don't knows with a certain mental perspective. Ppl need to be able to believe no matter what the circumstances. It's only by faith that anything becomes possible.\n\nBelieveing in things that for the most parthave been proven wrong is just denial.
1065712
People who believe in something think there is no wrong.
36234
A lack of faith. The feeling that they have time to decide. Not wanting to change their lives. Deception of false beliefs. The thinking that they really can't be that bad--that God will accept them with their sin( Sin is sin to God. it doesnt matter what it is). That they can do it themselves. rebellion against God. A hardened heart against the truth of God's Word. Thinking that it really can't be that simple.  The freedom of choice that God freely gave to all man. Peer pressure to think that this is foolish. These are some of the reasons that I can think of that people reject Jesus as the way.  It is so sad that so many people think this way. Because the punishment for our sins is death. Nothing we can do will ever be good enough to appease the wrath of a Holy and sinless God. Thankfully He is loving, merciful and gracious, and allowed a way out and that is through the gift of His Precious son in our place. Then it is up to the individual to believe this and accept this wonderful gift.
1147667
Religious people are typically threatened by culture and ideas because most (if not all) religions are based on faith.  Faith is belief without evidence.\n\nWhat this means is that you can believe ANYTHING you want and throw it under the blanket of faith.  Does Santa Claus exist?  Jude has faith that he does!  Does the ToothFairy exist?  Tommy has faith that she does!\n\nBecause faith is based on emotion and not logic, it can be easily swayed or changed by competing faith-based arguments.  How many people have faith that god is loving, when the bible lists many atrocities passed down by god?  The people's faith is different than what is in the bible because the people were swayed by a more popular cultural notion... "god is pure love".\n\nReligious leaders want to avoid people shifting their faith, so they try to denounce competing ideas.  That's why we see so many religious groups shouting down movies, books, and other cultural media.
467459
Faith is personal and, it does not rely upon any dogmata and scriptures.  When you bleed, you know that you are bleeding.  Same with faith, it is in the knowing of it is there.  People do backup their faith with scriptures but, the latter reinforce the former and not the vice versa.
9287
We do not all claim faith.
759518
When it comes to religion, a lot of people are unable to accept anything aside from what they were raised to believe or have come to believe.  They believe that their way is the right way, and everything else is just bunk.
1056801
I have problems with "faith".  Faith is essentially asking you to believe something that defies logic, science, reason, experience.  This is the one hook that the church must have in order to keep the good believers believing.\n\nOtherwise, if people started thinking and questioning the dogma of their church and the very existence of God and the truth about Jesus, then they might stray away from the Church.\n\nWithout faith, then people may have to start thinking for themselves and develop their own spiritual path without being told what and how to do it.
535434
What you say just isn't true for many people.  People don't refuse faith; faith just doesn't exist for many people, especially thoughtful, rational-type people.  And you already know that it's not true that God always gives when asked; lots of times He doesn't.\n\nRE: Your Email (Yahoo wouln't let me respond directly):\n\nThanks Jenny.  I've read lots of the Bible growing up.  I have not decided "he doesn't exist."  But if He exists, he has not given me Faith.  To the contrary, He has given me a brain and a heart that do not lead me to Faith, even reading the Bible.  Who knows why, but that's the situation.  I can act like I have Faith, I can pretend I have Faith, but it would be a lie, and I can't just manufacture real Faith.  I'm sure it's very comforting to have Faith (regardless of whether it's well placed).
248626
yes, and no, because since they don't believe in anything they'll live how they choose to live, not having to worry about doing wrong, because they don't believe they're doing anything wrong. and they don't have to worry about upsetting or disappointing a God. Because they have none. And no. because i see that lots of people who believe in stuff find true happiness because they have something to live for and believe in. So i don't know really. Yes and NO
200236
Obviously most of these people do not think that faith is a stumbling block on the path to a safer, more enlightened, less warlike future. I fully believe that this is the case, though.\n\nThe hard truth is that if there were no religion the World Trade Center would still stand, there would be peace in the Middle East, and 2,000+ dead American kids would be home with their families right now.\n\nSadly, faith fills a void in people's lives that folks like you and me will never understand. The need to "be part of something greater," is so intense that it prevents most people from looking at their beliefs objectively. If they did they might see faith as the divisive factor that it is.\n\nNow, I know that Jesus helps a lot of people sleep better at night, and I'm not coming down on that. But his name has also been used as a license to commit atrocities throughout history. Religion provides a justification for doing terrible things to other people. I cannot understand this.\n\nNow, you're talking about "eradicating religion." I've got news for you. If aliens landed tomorrow and revealed that "Earth" was the top-rated television show in Beta-Centauri, and they showed us the scripts for the past four-thousand years, including the "Christianity" outline, the majority of Christians would not accept that their faith was faulty. It's that strong. \n\nSo, your idea of eradicating religion simply will never work. Instead, what we have to do is find like-minded, rational people and talk about things with them. We also have to find the people with whom we disagree most and talk to them.\n\nIf you can convince a young-earth Christian that not all atheists are bad people, you will have done a tremendous amount of good. That opens the doors to them realizing that not all homosexuals are bad people. That opens the doors to the idea that maybe fire and brimstone and judgement are not the path to take.\n\nWe will never eliminate faith during our lifetimes. What we can do is try to make inroads into the minds and hearts of the faithful and try to gain a greater appreciation for where one-another is coming from.