A lot of people seem to forget that faith isn't proof. Amirite?

A lot of people seem to forget that just because you have faith in something doesn't mean you think you know for a fact that it's true, amirite?

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Quite the opposite actually

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I've never met anyone who told me faith was proof.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I thnk the problem the OP is getting at has been typified by LittleRed below. It's more of an attitude problem people with faith can get, that because of their faith they don't need proof, and in some cases, seing evidence/proof against their beliefs as a test of their devotion. Talking to people like that can be highly frustrating - you get more pleasing discourse from a barbed-wire fence. haha. I know EXACTLY what the OP means, and I agree 100%

by Anonymous 11 years ago

The religious/spiritual people I know always say things like, "You must believe in God", "God created so-and-so like this", "If God allows it", "It's God's will" and most annoyingly: "You //have to// believe in God." Then if I ask why it's like I'm insane, but they have absolutely no good answer to that, all their reasons are based on their faith, which they don't seem to understand is not my faith as well.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

@Logan, yeah I've heard that, it's so patronizing, but at the same timte totally hilarious! hahaha

by Anonymous 11 years ago

A lot of people also forget that if you have faith you don't need proof.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Well, you don't need proof to have faith. That's the whole idea behind faith.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

That's basically what they just said.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I apologize, I read it wrong. I didn't see the "don't"

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Yeah and that's fine for you, but I think that what the OP means too is that you can't then take that position and just shoot down all the proof/evidence that people believe in and tell them they're wrong. That's what quite a few people do.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

What if OP didn't mean it to be a great religious controversy. What if it was about cheese. "If you have faith that the cheese if in the fridge, it doesn't mean that there is proof that it is there."

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Nice

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I disagree. I don't often hear people say "God is real because I believe in Him" or something along those lines.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I do. It's more of a thing that faith is used a shield against anything a non-theist my propose as reasoning behind not wanting to believe in God. I get the impression though that the main drive behind this post is more of a disagreement with the notion that "faith is enough" - one thing christians like to put forward is that your faith should be enough to keep you convinced and keep you "on the path" as it were. The OP is saying that it shouldn't be considered enough. I'm inclined to agree.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Tommy... Fuck off. Like seriously, Fuck off hard.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Whoa. That was harsh, Anon.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Don't worry boxtop - it's always nice when people do the work for you and show you they are total retards. I don't think I need to say anything else now.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Compare me to someone with disabilities because I swore. Classy stuff.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

hahahaha, ok that seals the deal. Thank you Anon for proving my point even more. You can go ahead and add hypocrisy to the charge of being a retard

by Anonymous 11 years ago

@Anon: Umm, that's definitely not why they called you a retard, but if you want to see the bright side of that...

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I'm Christian and even though I feel very strongly that my beliefs are right I also acknowledge I could be completely wrong

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Many people also forget that a lack of faith does not mean disproof

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I'm not sure that there's anyone who would propose that not believing in something would automatically make them right. And the same for the opposite. But the attitude of the faithful can be somewhat frustrating to those of us without these convictions. And using faith as a constant force field against outside evidence and postulation also can be extremely frustrating by those of us who believe we are talking reason

by Anonymous 11 years ago

The whole point of faith is believing in things you don't have proof of.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

But I think OP is also trying to say that, in extreme cases, some people try to force their faith as proof when one disagrees with them.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

That is the point of faith. Trusting in something even though you don't have proof.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I'm Mormon so I'm going to use a verse from the Book of Mormon: 21 And now as I said concerning faith—faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true. (Book of Mormon, Alma, Chapter 32)

by Anonymous 11 years ago