"Faith" - The Christian's Clever Escape Move

Faith

The greatest escape move a Christian has is the term/idea of "faith". While in "check," when there is no other escape, and he sees his opponent's next move will result in "checkmate," I believe it says in the Official Christian Handbook (a ficticious idea and ammusing creation of my own) that the use of the simple term "faith" will move the game into a stalemate, thereby evading the onslaught of logic and sensible ideology.

I do have to give credit to whoever came up with the concept of "faith." By using this simple word/term/idea in the argument about religion, specifically Christianity, one has manufactured a backdoor of sorts to escape an inevitable defeat.

I am in awe of this concept of "faith" and how it is used. "Faith" is essentially the keystone of the Christian concept, while it is also the "mother's dress" for Christians to hide behind. What a brilliant way to tie a religion together; use the weakest point of an entire religion and then base that religion upon this weakness. Thus creating a very fallacious and deceptive appearance of sensibility while essentially looping the religion back upon itself, therefore fundamentally providing the fallback answer of "faith," which has been thrown in my face as the only reason and answer to my questions regarding the subject of the Christian god. An ingenuitive base for the religious structure - truly awe inspiring.

Why can't I come up with amazing evasive manuevers when I get myself caught up in a web of lies?

Maybe one day I'll be divinely inspired - and I will call this new religion... "The-lies-men-tell- themselves-so-they-can-turn-off-their-brainianity"...damn it, that premise sounds too close to that of some other religion; I'll keep working on it. Then one day, maybe I will finally be selfrighteous enough to tell everyone else that they are wrong and my new-found religion is the only correct one, or has that already happened as well?

[edit on 18-11-2004 by Howard the Dolphin]

Well u can still use the word faith as a evasive tactic.....when u come home smelling of beer and lipstick on your collar, and the wife asks you if you have been cheating....say do you have faith in god? well i am his son, so have faith in me! haha
Great post!

Where the problem comes in is when (not all christians), but some fundelmentalists will come in and tell abused women that they should "have faith" and remain with their abusive husbands. Or in extreme sects, they should avoid the medical treatment that is available and "have faith" that God will take care of them. (of course, considering our medical profession......)
or in really extreme sects......"have faith" and handle this extremely poisonous snake!!

Personally I wish they'd "have faith" that God can get our country back on track without totally undermining our constitution.

[edit on 18-11-2004 by dawnstar]

Faith in the Christian sense = trust. I suppose you don't have a bank account then huh? The bank could lie to you and you'd have no money. I suppose you don't drive either. You have to have faith that the car behind you will hit it's breaks and not kill you.

Main Entry: 1faith
Pronunciation: 'fAth
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural faiths /'fAths, sometimes 'fA[th]z/
Etymology: Middle English feith, from Old French feid, foi, from Latin fides; akin to Latin fidere to trust -- more at BIDE
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

If a Christian does not know, they will say "I'll just put my faith in God" in the same way you had faith that your parents would help keep you alive until you were grown up to take care of yourself. It would indeed be foolish and arrogant to say "I know all the answers" and "I'm capable of finding absolute truth all the time." Even if you do, you're having faith in yourself that you are indeed that good. Show me a person without faith in anything please and I'll show you the most paranoid person in the world.

Why is faith a lie? I fail to see the correlation.

[edit on 18-11-2004 by saint4God]

Arguments against blind faith also fall upon deaf ears, as they are closed to your words.

hmm...sounds like Confuscious or something, but that's totally mine, hehe...

Faith, means to me to put your trust into something that does not exist or that will never deliver what you seek.

Faith is trust in something that you can never prove. saint4god you made an unfair comparision with religious faith. You can't compare faith in God to faith in a bank lying to you.

You can prove the bank is lying, that is not religious faith because it can be proven fallable. You can prove the car behind you will hit its breaks, because if it doesnt...it will run into you.

You cant prove god exist. But religion pressures one to have 'Faith' that he does exist. Have faith that his actions are for a positive cause and have faith that when you cease to live in this life, you will have an 'afterlife'

Originally posted by Gazrok
Arguments against blind faith also fall upon deaf ears, as they are closed to your words.

hmm...sounds like Confuscious or something, but that's totally mine, hehe...

Oh, blind faith. Okay, that's not what Howard said so that's not what I addressed. God gave each of us a brain, it's our responsibility to use it to determine the right course of action. The Bible is a guide on how to think so that we are not making decisions blindly, rather with clarity and open eyes.

If it makes you happier for you to hear me to say 'I don't know' to a question instead of 'I have faith that one day God will show me', then I will. I have to admit the latter is much more positive thinking though. I would not expect a negative person to understand where I'm coming from here. The glass...it's half-full! Hope, my friends. Sorry Marg if someone slammed your hopes, but know that's not God's way. I'd say keep seeking, you'll find it. What have you got to lose at this point?

[edit on 18-11-2004 by saint4God]

i agree with the british guy i am a catholic and faith in a business or government or anothre human is a lot differnt than faith in God.

Originally posted by rowsdower
i agree with the british guy i am a catholic and faith in a business or government or anothre human is a lot differnt than faith in God.

Exactly! Faith in God is reliable.

Faith is not jumping in front of a bus and having faith that God will stop the bus for you. Martyrs didn't burn on a stake thinking that God was going to save them at the last minute with a "Holy Fire-Extinguisher". Faith is believing in something that you feel with your heart rather than something you prove with your logic.

Millions of people, many of them posters here, will believe in malicious world-government conspiracies, the existence of extra-terrestrials, and sometimes even astral projection and witchcraft without there being any real proof to back it up. What these people are doing is seeing a broad picture, or several pictures, and connecting the dots. If they see government documents or debunkings that refute their theories, it's all just a cover-up in their eyes and they still have �faith' in their original theories. They don't need to have irrefutable, physical evidence in their hands in order to believe that something is there, and there is NOTHING WRONG with that.

However the very same people will deride Christians for doing the same connect-the-dots in regard to a benign creator. Somehow, the idea of seeing the world and creation in any sort of positive light has become a sign of "turning-off one's brainianity".

It's easy to become angry at people who are persistent with their viewpoint, but remember, you are just as persistent with yours.

Howard, you seem angry and to think that the issue of a benign creator is a battle of some sort. People are "throwing faith in your face", 'using evasive maneuvers" and being" fallacious and deceptive". And If you have spoken to Christians that are truly self-righteous, then they are misguided or proud. But in reality, no one is trying to ram anything down your throat, and no one can force you to believe in anything. Beware of anyone or any church that tries. In the end the choice to believe in what you want is...well...your choice. It's called free will.

But as corny as it sounds, some folks people are trying to bring a message of hope to others. If you don't like to hear it then that's cool. I don't approve of "door-knocking" either. But don't deride people for having faith in something that cannot be proven with a government document or a fossil-bone. We all believe in something that we can't prove.

u gotta have faith no matter what. cuz if you didnt you couldnt really do anything cuz i think that faith is pretty much the same a trust.

Originally posted by rowsdower
i agree with the british guy i am a catholic and faith in a business or government or anothre human is a lot differnt than faith in God.

Just a note, im not british or welsh. Im an american temporaily living in the UK.

Originally posted by wecomeinpeace
In the end the choice to believe in what you want is...well...your choice. It's called free will.

Couldn't agree more-see my sig.

I see lots of posts along this line every day, representing both sides of the argument. What I don't always see is tolerence of the other belief. I was raised as a PK, so I've had more than my share of religious instruction. In my adult life I've chosen not to believe. My choice! Nobody made it for me, and I have yet to see any argument that will change it. I don't however try to force my belief on somebody else, and I would really resent it if somebody forced their belief on me. WIP, I couldn't agee with you more.

I like the post about Faith not being a last minute fire extinguisher. There's a story about a man that died during a flood after two boats and a helicopter had come for him, but he turned them away because he said that God would save him. Then the man asked why God didn't save him, then I think God said something about sending him 2 boats and a helicopter.

Faith is not doing something completely and utterly stupid and believing that God will pull you through it, which is why I don't handle snakes. We are all accountable for our decisions, as well as the decisions of others. I choose to have Faith, but you can decide whatever you want. I do not condemn you for not having Faith, so why should you call me a fool for believing in something that I choose to accept on Faith...

My mother was raised catholic in a fire and brimstone type of fashion. Had to kneel on broomstick for hours saying hail mary's and such.

Now she is almost 70. She says she is not religious, but won't say she does not believe with the Catholic doctrine "just in case."

So to her, her faith = fear.

Sorry for your mother's experience, leespitfire. I don't condon using fear tatics to enforce a belief. But to me, Faith is not fear. Faith to me is like a down comforter on a cold winters night. It is comforting and warm, helps me when I need it. Recently, my wife spent a month in the hospital because of her pregnency. I had faith that she would better. That kept me going everyday knowing that one day she would be leaving with me for home. That is what Faith is to me.

I don't use Faith to avoid circumstances. I use Faith to help me overcome circumstances.

[edit on 18-11-2004 by knights5629]

You ever watch the original Meatballs movie?

When the kids were getting whipped and insulted in basketball and they ended up chanting "It Just Doesn't Matter, I Just Doesn't Matter."

That is a mantra of mine that gets me thru bad times.

well whats the opposite of faith?

"the fool has said in his heart there is no God"

hehehe then the fool meets God (this normally happens after he dies)

Originally posted by TruthStrgnrThanFiction
well whats the opposite of faith?
"the fool has said in his heart there is no God"
hehehe then the fool meets God (this normally happens after he dies)

I think you have that wrong. The opposite of faith is not the disbelief in God. It's the disregard of the concept of God. To live life as if God never existed. There would be no knowledge of God. Nothing to oppose or side with. That would be a very authentic life.