Faith, Part II

Faith can be interpreted in many different ways. Some people would say that faith is the basis of all knowledge. According to Hector, faith is defined as: “the adoption of one believe wholeheartedly and completely, such a definition is idealistic, dangerous and foolhardy.”

I don’t consider myself a religious person, but I am very knowledgeable when it comes to the bible. One of my favorite scriptures is Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Pursuant to what Hector wrote in his essay regarding Mother Teresa and her faith I have a personal response. I quote him, “They cling to their ideals, fearful of allowing themselves to act and think and feel the way they were born to, as human beings.”

Why would someone who has faith in something, anything, be considered to be afraid of allowing themselves to be human? (This sentence still refers to the quote above, inserted from Hectors faith essay.) There are many different interpretations of this word; it all depends on who your demographic audience is.

God gave human beings free will; no other living creature has this quality. It is what makes us such complex mechanisms. First of all, does free will even exist? Many will fight that it does not. I argue it does. I was raised as a Jehovah’s Witness. I have never practiced any other religion. I was not baptized as an infant; rather I was given the choice to decide when to dedicate my life to God … so to speak. God does not force his/her power over individuals; we are given will and the freedom to choose. Each and every one of us is responsible for our own actions, which requires free will. However, Hectors essay is not about free will, it is about faith. (I got a little carried away ☺) So let’s get back on the topic and focus. Like I said before, faith can be considered the basis for human knowledge.

I used to only know what I was told by my parents or teachers, but I have looked for answers and I have researched topics that interest me, such as this one. This doesn’t mean I don’t have faith, I most certainly do! The idea of "faith seeking understanding" was set forth by St. Augustine in his statement "Crede, ut intelligas" ("Believe in order that you may understand"). That is what I am going to base my argument on. If we don’t believe in anything and have some sort of faith in either a person, place, thing or idea then how do we expect to understand anything? It does not necessarily have to apply to the idea of religion but rather the totality of knowledge.

Hector said something about children being taught to believe in things such as Santa, the Tooth Fairy, etc. Well, don’t children typically hold parental teaching as credible? When our parents tell us something we usually believe it, it becomes a foundation upon which future knowledge is built. Not everything our parents tell us will be correct, of course some things are said to scare us or refrain us; some of what we learn will be wrong, and some will be rejected. When we have no other sources of information our parents become our teachers. Of course, it is irrational to cling to everything we were taught but it is the foundation of our future knowledge.

Faith can be applied to merely anything and everything. For example, how many people have faith in a specific sports team, a parent, a lover, or most importantly themselves? Faith must be present in order to know anything. In other words, one must assume, believe, or have faith in the credibility of things in order to have a basis for knowledge.

We also base our knowledge to "authorities." Sometimes we just don’t have time to evaluate all the details so this is were "faith" is used instead. Faith is a commitment. "Faith" can be used in the sense of "fidelity." For a lot of people, faith or the lack thereof, is an important part of their identity.

I agree with Hector when he said that we sometimes say to know something “simply because everyone around us claims to know the same fact,” and “we might not even review the legitimacy of the idea.” We should always ask questions and find our answers but being faithful in something does not mean we are naïve. I want to leave this clear, asking a question does not mean we lack faith in any way, shape, or form; it is simply a way of strengthening our faith and becoming more knowledgeable.

Until we possess all knowledge in totality, we will need faith in order to believe something to be correct or incorrect.