FAITH is another word for OPINION

Terry

I strive to understand things by standing in a different spot and looking again.

I like to recontextualize things everybody seems to accept automatically and comfortably.

Why? To be able to see it for the FIRST TIME, again.

A MAN OF FAITH is noble, judicious, ethical and stalwart simply because

that adjective "FAITH" rubs off on him like an celebrity endorsement of a product.

I am not interested in one of those topic discussions where everybody chips in and defines FAITH.

However you choose to define FAITH you are expressing your OPINION.

The dictionary is only a reflection of the culture in which terms are used by writers and the currency of use establishes a temporary norm.

The dictionary is not a Bible.

Even the Bible is not a Bible :)

So--what is this topic really inviting you to discuss?

How about this?

What if the word FAITH were outlawed permanently and only the word OPINION could be used in place of it?

Now hang on--I'm not finished with the premise . . .

Would you suddenly hear the statements of "People of Faith" differently?

Doesn't the statement "People of Opinion" sound awfully shallow and unimpressive?

Right now--especially in a religious context--having FAITH, and being a person of FAITH is a badge of numinous excellence.

It has accrued over centuries--nay--over millennia into layers and layers of respect.

FAITH can never be factual because facts subvert the necessity of it.

Faith and fact, when spoken together are like putting a cannibal in white tie and tails.

How idiotic is it to gush, "I believe in 2+2=4"?

Does your endorsement make it less uncertain?

But, on the other hand, if you were to say "I believe fate is inescapable,"you cannot be trumped by facts.

Such things as FATE, LUCK, FAITH and BELIEF are slippery slopes for people wearing vasoline-soled shoes to prance around on.

OPINION is much more pointed and de facto and--let's be accurate here--OPINION is honest whereas FAITH is not.

Okay--I've opened this up for discussion.

Go ahead and started drowning us in your personal "opinion" about Faith and make my point for me

Hairtrigger

FAITH=the fat surrounding and weighing down the sinewy bands of human thought -better known as critical thinking.!

exwhyzee

Faith is a word that is sometimes used when someone wants to feel good about having given up looking any further.

Phizzy

I like what Mark Twain said about Faith.

"Faith is believing what you know ain't so ".

I also like what the British Philosopher A.C Grayling wrote : " Faith is not a respectable or admirable thing; having for so long been paraded as a virtue and worthy of respect,the truth is otherwise, its critics have no compunction in saying that it is irresponsible, lazy and too often dangerous".

He also modified Mark Twains saying above to better read : " Faith is believing what all the evidence and the most careful use of reason tells you just ain't so ".

People of Faith are admitting that they are deluded, irrational and ignorers of the evidence.

Terry

I've always considered this phrase redundant: Blind Faith.

It is similar to the book section titled Christian Fiction.

That's like a round circle.

But, levity aside---we have to stand back and honor FAITH while no such automatic veneration is accorded to OPINION.

I think a person of FAITH is well-intentioned. But, so is the guy cleaning his gun whose best friend is lying wounded on the floor.

Collatoral damage is almost always a surprise, isn't it?

The men who flew planes into the World Trade Center were men of faith, weren't they?

The people who died in Jonestown were people of faith, weren't they?

The Kamikaze Japanese pilots who flew into aircraft carriers in WWII were men of faith, weren't they?

Since when is fanaticism, ignorance and collatoral damage the exception to the rule of faith?

Imagine taking your S.A.T. and being given a special grade curve IF YOU BELIEVE your answers are correct!

Thinking your are right does not amplify the truth and does not diminish the error.

WORDS are our tools of thought.

WORDS are the basic ingredients of our intellect.

If we don't try to maintain the best possible definitions (pragmatic) of our words we DAMAGE our rational process.

That's all I'm saying.

Phizzy

" we have to stand back and honor faith".

WHY ?

abbasgreta

I Cor 12 7-11 does not include possessing 'an opinion' as being a gift of the Holy Spirit. One's opinion is subject to change. Faith is not, just subect to loss.

Phizzy

Faith in a Flat earth was certainly subject to change.

Terry

Phizzy says:

" we have to stand back and honor faith".

WHY ?

I spoke inartfully. I think I should probably have said it another way.

Commonly, in our society, we speak with deference toward people of FAITH.

Why? It is seen as a positive quality. Atheists are among the most hated people.

____________________________________________________________

I Cor 12 7-11 does not include possessing 'an opinion' as being a gift of the Holy Spirit. One's opinion is subject to change. Faith is not, just subect to loss.

At the risk of saying "You are missing the point" I must point out to you the Bible cannot be an authority on ITSELF.

That is like lifting yourself by your own bootstraps.

When scripture announces "All Scripture is inspired and beneficial . . ." it is an opinion and even that statement cannot logically apply.

abbasgreta

Terry: I must point out to you that the bible cannot be an authority on ITSELF.

That's your opinion! I believe it can and it is because it alone is 'God-breathed'. That's my opinion! We shall just have to stick to our own opinions - and agree to disagree.

FAITH is another word for OPINION

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