what do you believe in?

i’ve been thinking about this for a long time and have decided to throw it out onto ats to hopefully prompt some discussion. What is “belief”? i have started to think of it as a weakness in some respects – bear with me, i’m not dissing anyone – but to believe in something surely implies some lack of certainty, otherwise surely you would say you KNOW something to be the case... eg. Someone says “i believe in god” – what does that actually mean? Is it the same as saying “i know god is real”? it seems to me that if you say you believe in something, you are essentially saying that you know something that cannot scientifically be truly proven... another example – how many ats readers would agree with the statement “i believe in ufos”? – think about it, is it the same as saying “i know that ufos are of extraterrestrial origin” or whatever..? basically what i’m trying to get at here is the difference between BELIEVING and KNOWING. It just seems to me that although we all say we believe in this or that, is it actually a weaker position to take than to say we know this or that? Is the difference between the two just a leap of faith? Or is it a simple matter of evidence?
I could go on for pages about my thoughts on this, and that’s before i get to “faith” and “truth” etc – that’s a whole sixpack of worms i’d really rather not open. If anyone else wants to go there, be my guest. But to begin with, can anyone give me a bit of help here with this “belief” thing – does it inherently imply some weakness or lack of certainty, or does it imply courage and the strength to stand and commit yourself?
Love to all..
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reply to post by twentythreedom


All belief is a form of limitation.-John Lilly,Md,author of Center of the Cyclone.

Reality can only be intuited,not believed.
www.beezone.com...




[edit on 8-6-2010 by RRokkyy]

reply to post by RRokkyy


Rrocky i love your avatar.

On topic: Beliefs are things that people "feel" to be true, even though they can offer no real evidence or proof, other than their own subjective, often intuitive, experience. Some beliefs may turn out to be true, while others may be complete illusions. For some reason, human beings like to have a firm grasp of things--so in areas where things are uncertain or not fully known, they form "beliefs", which take the place of actual knowledge.