Okay, back to faith: I'm in completely agreement with you all about the nature of "faith" as it is used today to mean strongly self willed belief to the ignore-ance of all else. I think you all have correctly intuited it's elemental function/operation in the human psyche as a watery, inebriating liquid.
Which is why it's important to rise above the water, stand upon it, calm the storms and learn to walk without drowning.
This gets into the original function of the mind/soul behind the meaning of "faith" and not just in the religious sense because people seek the same escapism through other means. Some inebriate themselves with money, others with power, some with their own misery, others with manic happiness, some with how good of a person they are, other's with how trollish they can be. And many with actual alcohol. Drowning in an emotion/perspective of their choice, as much as they like, as far as they want to take it. Or as far as they allow it to....if they have that much control any longer. Some have forgotten there is a surface border and clear air beyond.
Pick your poison....there's something for everyone. Until you decide they don't really satisfy and usually leave you feeling worse afterwards. This is from the over indulgence of any opinion.
The true function of "faith" is as knowledge. You might believe something is true that is actually true but outside confirmation is needed to turn that into something other than personal conjecture. It can confirm your belief or shatter it. Such is truth, such is God.
To me, science is the most successful faith on the surface of the planet. Hebrews 11:1 Now "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen." Is all of science man-made belief? Of course not. Perhaps its currently held "truths" were one a belief in one person's mind but it's veracity is "proven" through external evidence and a crap ton of consensus. From outside man's mind. From "Divine" self evident persuasion of the nature of the creation around us, once we develop the technological facilities to gain greater insight and more data of what is already here, "waiting" for us to hail as "truth".
![[Image: 8FPP-o.gif]](https://images.weserv.nl/?url=i.makeagif.com%2Fmedia%2F12-02-2015%2F8FPP-o.gif)
Which is why it's important to rise above the water, stand upon it, calm the storms and learn to walk without drowning.
This gets into the original function of the mind/soul behind the meaning of "faith" and not just in the religious sense because people seek the same escapism through other means. Some inebriate themselves with money, others with power, some with their own misery, others with manic happiness, some with how good of a person they are, other's with how trollish they can be. And many with actual alcohol. Drowning in an emotion/perspective of their choice, as much as they like, as far as they want to take it. Or as far as they allow it to....if they have that much control any longer. Some have forgotten there is a surface border and clear air beyond.
Pick your poison....there's something for everyone. Until you decide they don't really satisfy and usually leave you feeling worse afterwards. This is from the over indulgence of any opinion.
The true function of "faith" is as knowledge. You might believe something is true that is actually true but outside confirmation is needed to turn that into something other than personal conjecture. It can confirm your belief or shatter it. Such is truth, such is God.
To me, science is the most successful faith on the surface of the planet. Hebrews 11:1 Now "faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen." Is all of science man-made belief? Of course not. Perhaps its currently held "truths" were one a belief in one person's mind but it's veracity is "proven" through external evidence and a crap ton of consensus. From outside man's mind. From "Divine" self evident persuasion of the nature of the creation around us, once we develop the technological facilities to gain greater insight and more data of what is already here, "waiting" for us to hail as "truth".
"Leave it to me to find a way to be,
Consider me a satellite forever orbiting,
I knew the rules but the rules did not know me, guaranteed." - Eddie Vedder
Consider me a satellite forever orbiting,
I knew the rules but the rules did not know me, guaranteed." - Eddie Vedder
