Faith and religion are quite different things, religion often incorporates faith as an integral part of its foundations, but that being said I for one welcome this thread and this discussion. Faith could potentially play a role in the mindset of the bus driver who takes your children to school, faith could play a role in the cook who grills your steak at a restaurant, it plays a part in some cancer patients last days before they die, it may play a part in someone you care about future hopes, and expectations. 400 threads on Superman and 4 threads on why Red Hulk doesn't have a mustache and this site can't even handle a simple discussion on potentially one of the most important things in our or people we know lives? Sure we can predict some posters may lose the ability to engage in sincere conversation, but I am totally sure cynicism doesn't help lead to a self fulfilling prophecy nyet? Perhaps we could just encourage people to not take things so personally and use this opportunity to demonstrate their ability to talk about a sensitive topic and there exists a flag button and moderators for any who really overstep their bounds and thats at one's discretion. Thats my personal take anyway, I find the question and replies so far extremely fascinating and would dislike preventing the options of other posters and people the ability to also express their opinion after me as well.
So faith eh? Well whilst certainly playing a strong element in many religions, it can also be applied out of religion. Occasionally someone will confuse me with the implication that I dislike religious people, it confuses me momentarily because I don't dislike religious people, I like everyone, but then I realize they probably misunderstood something I have said criticizing an aspect of religion or probably faith. I am highly critical of faith because its essentially the opposite of reason but it also opposes humble neutrality. Its at odds with skepticism. Why don't I have faith? Well mainly because I live in an age, and time, and situation which means I don't require it. A large part also has to do with me thinking reason, neutrality, critical thinking and skepticism are objectively superior to faith. Its possible for those ideas to coexist, so I am not saying they are absolutes to each other, but I am making the claim that in all the ways that matter, reason, critical thinking, neutrality and skepticism are superior to faith. Faith only really works well when you need faith, but ideally you wouldn't want anyone to be in a situation to need things.
So a lot of us have an understanding of what fight or flight response is right? Its not fight, or flight or stay neutral and ponder response, and if there would be a third option it would have to be die. Fight flight or die. Well evolutionary speaking there are other options, like freeze/choke and stay really... really still. Or putting your hands over your eyes, if you can't see them they can't see you right? Thousands and thousands of years ago, faith in your own decision making or just having strong convictions and beliefs were super awesome, and super helpful and super convenient when dealing with predators. Was that a lion in the grass or was it just a bird? No time to think, I should probably climb that tree with my spear. Even if your wrong your right, because much like the philosopher Ronald McDonald explains, safety first kids. I mean yeah might have just been a bird and now you look a bit silly sitting in a tree scared of a bird but if you contemplated that while you were on the ground inventing language and it was a lion then goodbye your chance to breed and rack one up for the lions eh? So faith and other types of behavior and principles that govern behavior, reactions and so on, its very important to note that they have evolutionary reasons and objective merit depending on circumstance. Its not an unfair or unreasonable modern day sentiment for people to wish and want an afterlife because if there is no afterlife then what is the point right? This is today, where we can buy as much bacon as we can afford at the local market, have internet, have TV, have pillows, have toilet paper, can look at sexy pictures of sexy people and things and comic book characters online, we can have dozens of different fruits, chocolates, cigars, sent from all parts of the world to our doorstep, we have instant access to like all popular music from the last 40 years, at least that much. In the last 15 years technology means that random people can upload and put a digital copy of music online for everyone to share. We have so many nice things that people 10 000 years ago can't even. People 10 000 years had structure and society that people 50 000 years ago can't even.
So when a person 20 000 years ago, spends all their time hunting for food to survive, looking for shelter to survive, and trying to find someone sexy enough to mate with and then try and survive looking for food and shelter with a child in tow? Walking barefoot everyday and constantly having to be ready for danger? Trying to survive snow and hail when you only have animal carcass's and ugg boots as protection? Your best friend got stabbed to death by a sabretooth? Suddenly having faith that something better is coming starts sound pretty freaking awesome to help keep spirits up. Can you imagine telling a person from any point in the past that (depending on what country they are in) they don't have to spend every day looking for food? Their children and family and friends will probably live healthy and well, well past 60? They would probably freak out and run into oncoming traffic at being so over simulated. So in that respect we should all appreciate faith, its why we are here. Then again we should not be taking cues on what and how reality is and works by people who lived 20 000 years ago. In modern day we actually have ample time to educate and teach young children how to think fairly, rationally, intelligently in ways that allow them to make quick decisions based on reason rather than faith. This is important to because faith is inherent to our species, as is gullibility, as is trust. We need to believe and trust and have faith when we are 2 years old, we won't survive like some 2 year old animals, we need parental figures and guardians to feed us, shelter us and all that. We also have significantly large brains that are ripe for learning and thinking and questioning and critical reflection. Except sometimes this means questioning and critiquing the status quo and as comic book fans who witness and participate rage wars against change/stagnancy in comics we all know how safe/comforting/annoying/horrible the status quo is right? Not all changes are good, not all changes are bad, and now if only there was some objective way to distinguish the good from the bad... faith? No not faith, you get angry, stubborn, emotional fanboys when believing what you believing is right because you believe it and are really insistent and consider your believing it, is enough to justify your belief. You want reason, reasons, accountability, demonstration, proof, facts, validity, accuracy. At least thats what you should want. Especially if you think about it. Its what we know, improves lives, society, ethics, friendships, relationships, even if only slowly but surely. Often rapidly depending on context
Usually people that don't think about it are engaging in a type of fight or flight type of reaction. When you see someone getting needlessly argumentative, bringing in personal attacks, accusations, when you see people asserting things without a willingness to actually establish why and how their claims are credible, valid, you see they are probably asking you to take their word on good faith, that there accusations and assertions are true just because they really really believe they are. By definition, its unreasonable, but when you account how humans often work and operate and have worked and the psychological and emotional reasons faith exists... well its not that unreasonable. ^_^
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