Faith doesn't need to be turned religious
Does everybody have faith?
It takes more faith to have faith in yourself and that things with a bit of
work are worth working for even if it goes wrong than it does to think God is
tweaking things for you and guiding you. Yes. Everybody has faith but not
everybody has a religious faith. We have faith it is safe to go to work tomorrow
and some of us that believe that not because we think there is a magic angel
watching over us but because we do not. We know that life is usually safe. Some
feel less safe in the hands of magical beings for the reality is that even if
they exist they are no guarantee that things will always be okay. I think
religious faith needs not ridicule but needs the believers to be encouraged to
think. If religion is untrue people need to think their way out of it.
Faith in the general sense rests on and assumes and advocates principles. For
example, lies will be overcome. Everything happens for a reason. Good will win
eventually for evil is just a parasite on good. Unpack faith - break it down
into its components and examine each one. If most of the components are bad or
dangerous then faith is to be condemned. Atheists tend to faith in the general
way we have described. So do religionists. There are overlaps. But atheists make
it about luck and expecting the best to happen for that is better than expecting
the worst all the time. That is a pragmatic faith. It is not the same as
religion which says the same things for different reasons. The religionist has
the luck faith and turns it towards God. To be clear faith in the pragmatic
sense si the automatic and default one. God is built on it. God is meant to be
the be all and the end all but here God is tacked on. That is not real belief in
God but using him. “I submit to the will of God,” sounds so devout but really
means, “This is about how I see God and I submit to that. I know I cannot always
have my own way so that is not as selfless as it looks. It is clever and
practical. Sorry I am clever and practical.”
Lies manipulate the truth and so it can be hard work exposing them. It may take
a second to tell a truth but it may take an hour to unravel and refute a lie.
The laziness of most people in dealing with suspected lies show how dangerous
their faith is that the lie will tear itself apart or somebody else will do it
if they do not bother.