What is Human faith? Should it be institutionalised?
922663
Faith is a born freedom. Once it is institutionalized its growth is stunted and thwarted as in the case of any other freedom.\n\nFanaticism and fundamentalism are the by-products of the institutionalized faith called 'organized religions'.
1045960
Yes. Religion is an organized system of belief in the divine.  In the context of religion, faith is the belief in such a system.
212348
Absolutely not. God saves individuals, not organizations.\n\nI think the Bible is pretty clear. Good texts to illustrate your points.\n\nThere IS one faith. That one faith is not necessarily one church. That faith that leads to salvation is faith in Jesus Christ as the redeemer. Can't get to heaven without Jesus.\n\nPEOPLE will always go their own way. That's why there are so many different beliefs and denominations. Why wouldn't there be? Most folks can barely agree on what to put in a salad.
594844
OK here's my view.  I think that religion should have no bearing on love whatsoever.  How can you honestly prove god exists to someone who doesn't believe.  While were at it How can you prove he exists at all?  Maybe hes a being, a Greek god, or maybe there isn't one.  My point is faith is a personal belief, NOT a burden.  Why should you let it come between something so beautiful as love.  Let each person have their own beliefs and let the other do as they wish.  Love may only come so often.  Don't miss it because of something like that, SEIZE IT.  Would you base a relationship off of political preferences, Hell no.  So don't make the same mistake.  Not angry just explaining! :-)
719797
No.  Morals developed out of religion.  Care and concern for human kind evolved from man's relationship with God.  While I realize it's a source of fanatical rampages, it's also a source of good in this world.  Without it, people would be a lot worse to one another.
732889
Faith is our beliefs and our beliefs define our reality. Religion is a set of beliefs. Your life is your set of beliefs. Therefore, no, without faith your life can't have meaning. You would have nothing to believe in, no existence.
375469
It's not a question of hard or easy.  Belief isn't a choice.  Thoughtful people's beliefs follow from their brain-based reasoning.  There are a small number of people who claim to reason their way to belief in God, but on inspection it's not very many, and it belies the concept of "faith," which wouldn't be necessary if belief in God followed from reason.
1014340
"Mainstream Satanism is more or less a philosophy than a religion. It is believing in being your own god of sorts, of going out and changing the world yourself rather than waiting for spiritual aid or instruction. "\n\nThis is exactly what humanity MUST do if it is to come out of the intellectual darkness of religion--however, I see no need to attach the label of "Satanism" to it (yet another non-existent deity), when "humanism" works just fine.  There is no invisible, all-powerful deity who will hear humanity's pathetic prayers and solve all our problems for us. If the world is to be improved, it will be improved through the efforts of HUMANS, not GODS.  \n\nWe have historical evidence for this. It is people, not God, who developed the medical profession to where it is today. In times past, people died of many diseases that we can now treat, cure, or at least curtail--influenza, polio, smallpox, cancer, heart attack, strokes, malaria, chicken pox, mumps, measles, etc.  God never cured or eliminated a single disease and never responded to a single prayer, but when HUMANS began developing cures, improving sanitation, and figuring out the causes of illnesses, then health began to improve for millions all over the world. This is just one example of the superiority of the intellectual mind over belief in an imaginary entity.
141231
By having faith,is that so bad?
84799
I think religion is a way for people to support each other in feeling spiritual and making correct moral decisions. Some people won't make good decisions on spirituality alone, and for those people, having other people around them helps.\n\nEDIT FOR ADDTNL INFO:\nWhy is anything neccessary? Why are homes neccessary? Why don't people just live at work? Eat grass? Because we as humans desire more, a more personal experience, a more organized approach. You don't get people at your community center sharing uplifting stories about standing up for what is right.
489243
nope...humanism is another way of saying man is god. man knows best. man can solve any problem by looking to another man. every man has his own truth. ahh..i could go on and on...but i won't bore you.\n\nthis is why the world's in bad shape. too many people have too much faith in an imperfect man.
358320
I heard an old guy named Dr. Eno preach on faith one time.  One of those guys who have been around so long and was pretty wise. He summed is up this way:  "Faith is believing God."\n\nI've always remembered that and I've always found it to fit.
523162
I was exposed to Sec.Humanism when I was unitarian-universalist a while back.  I think it is a very common-sense, rational worldview.  I am not sure how spiritual Sec.humanism can be---but know some are to a point.\n\nThe effect on US?  It might help us solve some of our major problems with poverty, children in the child-care system, perhaps improve prison conditions (if needed), and perhaps bring a calm atmosphere to the already viotile area of politics.  That's just my take.\n\nThe effect on religion?   I am distinctly hoping that perhaps if Sec.Humanism becomes very popular or wide-known, maybe more religious folks can incorporate some of the humanism into their religion(s), maybe that might improve life generally---if not in small ways, by enabling the religious folks to take a hard look at their religious teachings and see how they can BETTER apply them to their lives (such as Judge Not, Help Others in Need, Live-Let-Live).  Again, just my take on it.
489561
People should put more faith in themselves and God.
672334
Here's the thing: Religion doesn't mean much to me. However, its the only thing that's keeping many people in line. (Actually, I think it kind of speaks to human nature that many people need some divine father figure shaking his finger at them in order to behave.) In all though, I think it'll be a good thing if people stop following religion and listen to science and common sense.\n\nBlind faith is dangerous.
802311
Christianity is a faith based belief system.  Secularists want it to be translated into their evidence based belief system and it really can't be to their satisfaction.  Of course it seems that since there's no evidence computers can fly together out of nothing one should be able to conclude that the much more complex universe couldn't have either, but that point seems lost on them.
194118
NO!! They have taken God out of schools ( I wish they hadn't). Government needs to leave the statement "In God We Trust" alone. We all need one thing that we can trust in. God is the best thing for that. If we don't have God then we might as well not be here.