Faith

Faith, as defined by dictionary.com, is “1. Confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing. 2. Belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence.”  Applying the latter definition to religious faith, there is no way for one to argue about the irrationality of a religious believer. Anyone can see that you cannot find God, in and of Himself, here on Earth. There is no existing, solid proof that would be convincing to everyone of God’s existence. And yet millions of people throw caution to the wind and believe anyway. They have a “confident belief in the truth” of their religious doctrines. Having faith, by definition, is not a rational thing, and can therefore ignore the laws of logic and also avoid any logical counter arguments. Sure, a person can have reasons for why they believe in God. But when it comes down to the center of their reasons, the crux of why they searched out proof and then had those reasons for believing, the basis for their beliefs is a gut feeling. It is an intuitive predisposition, you can’t explain it, you can’t understand it, but you follow it nonetheless. It’s an “I don’t know why I think this way, I just do” situation, and no one can argue rationally against that. I admire those who have this kind of faith. To keep to your beliefs, to boldly assert that you still believe in the face of what seems to be overwhelming evidence to the contrary, evidence, but no proof, is one of the greatest of acts.

However, I see faith as a weapon, a mechanism used by the creators of religion to further urge you to conform. True faith is always rewarded in the Bible. Abraham and Joseph were not the best of men; they were liars and deceivers. But they had faith, and they believed in God, and God thus rewarded them. Faith is the fundamental tenant of religion because it is faith that makes the Bible something to be believed in instead of just another book of fanciful stories with morals attached. Why? Because the creators of religion knew their creation would be questioned. They knew that logic would step in and people would begin to doubt their manifestation. And you cannot have a means of social control if people don’t follow it; you can’t have a religion try to constrict behavior if people don’t believe it is true. So, you introduce this wonderful concept of believing against all odds, believing in face of the utmost scrutiny and the overwhelming evidence pointing to another conclusion. You introduce faith and make it the most important thing imaginable, and you keep your followers. You keep people believing in what you say because, even if logic tells them that it isn’t right, they will still continue to believe because of that gut feeling.

You create a God and a religion to try to explain the unexplainable, where there is no solid proof either way, and with it you attach a system of moral rights and wrongs. You make faith the most important thing. You have just created a system of societal control. You prey upon the faith of the people, their willingness to believe in what you have created, the hope and purpose of life that you have created, and you attach morals and an afterlife to try to channel their behavior into something of your liking. Religion is a mechanism, a means of social control.