All the problems with Christianity

[Tonus]

Well... you seem to portray the child as some kind of victim.

Not at all. The child was not really the focus of the point I was trying to make, I was using it to show how the word "faith" as defined in Hebrews 11:1 indicates that the expectation is based on some form of reasonable consideration. A child could reasonably expect (have faith) that a parent would keep a promise as simple as "I will bring home the toy I know you want." I child could be understandably suspicious (lack faith) if the parent promised to bring home a dinosaur. Faith, to me, means an expectation with reasonable thought behind it. If I step outside and it's cloudy and windy, I may grab an umbrella even though there is no rain falling; the evidence leads me to anticipate an outcome and react accordingly.

I always thought it would be awesome if god revealed himself to us unequivocally. For all of the time that I was a believer my interaction with god was one-sided. I lived my life according to his rules, and I prayed frequently to him. I interpreted events in my life as part of his plan and took those events as evidence that he was influencing or guiding my life. But I never really got any input from him, and it seemed the same for anyone else who claimed to see his hand in action. God's influence was completely based on my faith that he was having an effect on my life, and not on any tangible evidence that he was. In that sense, my faith was blind because there was no reasonable justification for it.

Or to continue my metaphor, god was the dinosaur that my parents promised to bring home as a gift. I widened that door as much as I was able, but after many years I realized that they weren't really going to bring one home.