What do you have faith in?

Exactly what the topic says. What is it you have faith in? God, your friend, family, a game console, your lover?

Is faith beyond you? Do you only trust yourself and not others or anything else?


I have faith in God as well as others. My parents, a friend of mine, and myself. Some say "a friend is someone who hasn't let you down yet". Sometimes that is the case, though there are those who are true to you/people in general.

Views?

[Sasquatch]

Everybody has faith in something. I debate Evolutionism with people who claim that faith of any sort is a crutch, without realizing that, since faith constitutes a belief in something yet unproven, a belief in Evolutionism is just as much faith as a belief in Creation.

On the same note, "faith" and "trust" are extremely similar. I have faith in my father, whom I can count on for just about anything, to be there for me as much as he can be. I have faith in God, and in my beliefs as a Christian. I have faith in my friends and (most of) my family, as with the members of my platoon in combat. On a more simple note, I have faith that my truck will start when I want it to, I have faith that my dog will be happy to see me, I have faith that the frozen pizza I'll make for dinner won't burn if I follow the directions on it. Everybody has faith in what they consider to be reasonable. It's what's reasonable to each person that's subjective.

A part of me wants to have it known that I do put faith among many different things in my life; but then another little corner of my mind contradicts that.
I would love to put faith, to have something support me when times are tough, but how can you leave yourself so vunerable? How can you place your trust into the hands of another human being, where human beings are predestined to make mistakes at least once in their lifetimes. Perhaps not toward me, but you understand that statement.

I've put faith and trust, whichever you want to see it, within the hands other other people and it hasn't been the best experience for me. When I have been in trouble, the trust and faith I had in some of my friends was not enough to have them help me.

I had faith in my dog. But she died.
I had faith in my friends, but now I can't bear to tell them what is going on in my head.
(I don't mean this to be a pity party, I am just expressing my definition)
I had faith in certain friends, but when I needed someone to talk to; they wouldn't take anytime to listen to my problems.

I have faith in God. That is about it. Faith in myself? Sometimes. I cannot even trust myself at times, which is the same for just about everyone, because there are going to be events where you are going to let yourself down. You betrayed your own self.

With this said, I do have friends that I put faith into. The people most close to me. Because, you can't live without faith and trust within yourself and others.

[King Fenii]

I have faith for anyone who has the heart to actually be themselves and not lie to themselves or others. Yes, this means they are honest people. I've always tried to help these people as much as possible, for they deserve all the help. This also means I trust a whole lot of people.

The thing is, I don't get myself in to a position where people could get hurt, emotionally I mean. I am more like the big brother behind these people and give them support and guidance whenever I can. This means I have a lot of faith in myself. I'm not cocky or anything, it's just that I know right from wrong.

Believe it or not, Final Fantasy helps you with this in a great deal. In every FF you face evil, but are automatically put in a position where you HAVE to have faith in your own character. It is strange, that blind trust. But then again, it IS just a game, and you know that it can't turn on you. Instead of making this more complicating as it is, I'll say this: Your character is good, and you are fighting evil.

So, you know the standards of good, and right, and judgement, and will, and ambition etc. Try to compare that to yourself. If you think you're not like that, and if that bothers you, then that's the place to turn to. I've never seen Final Fantasy as actual games, more like stories. The creator of Final Fantasy once said something in a way that he didn't like hectic stuff, he'd rather stories. I can't remember exactly what he said, but it was nice.

So, that's pretty much it. I can go on blabbin', but I don't want to take up much of your time. I have faith in myself, people around me that I respect, and in justice. This doesn't mean I'm an angel or anything, I just feel better being good. I have many other personal reasons, for that fact. Feel free to ask me, but we'll see if someone cares first

Games and stories can be helpful, though it depends how much you get from the story/game. Too much isn't a good thing. There is a fine line between reality and fantasy. Not saying you don't realize that.

Inferno... I realize what you mean by the Big Brother thing and helping others with hard times and finding "faith" within themselves. I myself haven't had much trouble with life. I can't tell dramatic and painful stories about such hard time I have been through, and being hurt. However I have a long life ahead of me. Though I do have problems, it's a given. I enjoy helping others, but I find it gets harder and harder to find someone my age who will listen and be mature. It is hard to find those who learn from what they hear instead of being ignorant and not considering words that are wise. (Not that I'm the wisest). So I can "relate" to your experiences with helping others.

Mana. I however can't relate to your problems and experiences. All I know is people today don't listen to who they claim to be their friends. Some do, sure. But most can't understand how it feels, or just sit for a moment and give some sympathy, understand and help. To explain that everything will turn out ok, that stuff happens, or to just listen. I hope that you find someone, friend or family, to trust and talk to that will listen and share problems, in which you should never lose faith in. (I hope I don't sound... I don’t know too personal or something. Just reassuring and understanding.)

Sasquatch: Platoon in combat? I don't know if you mean that you’re in the military, play online games, or are just using an old saying. (Or something else.) Just curious as to what you mean... I have met a few people who believe faith is just a crutch, as you said. Which seems odd they believe this. Normally this is what they believe because someone they once had faith in or loved has hurt them. Or they think god had wronged them by taking away a loved one or friend. Or just haven't had enough teaching and proof that faith is something more. We all need it and whether we know it, somehow we all have it. Faith in god or faith the knowledge that we will all die. Trusting that they won't suddenly have immortality...

Mana. I however can't relate to your problems and experiences. All I know is people today don't listen to who they claim to be their friends. Some do, sure. But most can't understand how it feels, or just sit for a moment and give some sympathy, understand and help. To explain that everything will turn out ok, that stuff happens, or to just listen. I hope that you find someone, friend or family, to trust and talk to that will listen and share problems, in which you should never lose faith in. (I hope I don't sound... I don’t know too personal or something. Just reassuring and understanding.)

No. You don't sound too personal. That is probably one of the more kinder things people have said to me recently.
I try to find people that will do what you have listed. But they just seem so wrapped up in their own problems to bother to help me. How can I find faith in someone where all they care about is themself? I would go out of my way to make sure someone I cared about was taken care of.

[Sasquatch]

Originally Posted by anubis505

Sasquatch: Platoon in combat? I don't know if you mean that you’re in the military, play online games, or are just using an old saying. (Or something else.) Just curious as to what you mean...

Yes, actual platoon, actual combat, actual military. In a combat situation, you've got to have faith in the people around you, to cover, protect, and if necessary, save you. I'm sure Mike knows exactly what I'm talking about, though I don't know how much combat he's seen.

As a MK-19 gunner in Iraq, among many other things, I had to have faith in my A-gunner (Assistant) to load my ammo right, so the rest of my guys could keep their faith in me to keep laying down fire. When my A-gunner turned out to be a complete schmuck, I realized that I had much more faith in myself (or hell, anybody but him) to load my own belts than him. After he loaded a string from his cold-weather gear in with my grenade belt during qualifications and I told him that if he did that in a combat situation I'd shoot him myself, we all decided it was a better idea for me to train my own A-gunner. Without faith in each other, a unit can't function...that applies to any group of people, not just military.

On to the next part... Yes, it is odd when somebody insults faith, but also comical, because usually they're too blinded by their hatred of religion (nine times out of ten, from what I've seen) to realize that their beliefs include just as much faith, if not more, and every daily life requires faith. Like I said, everybody has faith in what they consider to be reasonable. Some people try to reject the existence of a "higher power" and only consider options that don't include one to be reasonable. Some people are just the opposite, having seen and experienced enough proof of a higher power to justify believing it's reasonable, and thus have faith in it.

[Setzer]

I have faith in only a few people. Of course the one and only I believe in god, so yes I do have faith in god. No idea if god exists but still I've grown up and just have weird things that I've seen in my life to not believe in some sort of higher power. Mostly I have faith though in 2 family members of mine. My uncle and my brother. They have been more of a family to me for the last 5 years than any other. I also have faith in one of my friends, I've known him for a while and I just am very open with him, more than most people. In the end I like the idea of having someone to believe in, sombody to trust. i think that faith has saved and kept many peoples lives going.

Setzer: Well if you have faith in god, the higher being, then how can you be uncertain god is real? I am just wondering, kinda making a point. I don't think you can have faith in something that doesn't exist. Some things are exceptional, I don't exactly know how.

Sasquatch, I see exactly what you mean. Hesitation to trust someone like that, in combat on the battlefield, could be devastating. Within reason of course, because if you had that fool at your side I wouldn't have much faith in him, more in god to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid. In a battle you don't have much time to doubt comrades, do you?


Mana: Well if that was a kinder comment then you must be going through some hard stuff. Well Mana, if you can't find someone you know on your side of the Internet, you could always PM me about troubles. I have a lot of free time on my hands and not a lot of problems, so I could stand to listen to others and learn as well as reply. This goes for pretty much anyone. I once again don't want to sound "personal" or overly involved. I understand when no one has a clue who I am, and over the internet no doubt, that it seems perhaps weird. Push comes to shove, no one to talk to it's hard, it hurts, you just want to tell someone about these problems... and yet no one can listen and then actually help.

I guess i have faith in some of my family and myself. Amoungst other things i wont list. I think faith can be seen in different ways though. As for trust.... heh. To tell you the real truth, i DONT trust anyone except for myself and some of my family... i have alot of friends, but for me i wouldnt call them actual 'friends' that would be the wrong term for what they are to me. I know that everyone has faults and you gotta look at the positive over the bad, but once someone has done something that a friend shouldnt do & keeps repeating that, i dont want to consider them as a 'friend', so therefore the only way i can trust someone thats not family is for them to be a true, good friend and sadly none of my so called friends fall into that cadegory. I have in the past had very good friends that i trusted with my life, but nothing lasts forever.

I think it's possible to NOT have faith in something, but that anyone who experiences that is often driven to suicide or maniacal rages; that complete and utter lack of trust in anything in the world destroys a person.

Now, I'm not saying people need to be God-fearing or have blind faith in friends or family, but at least a modicum of faith has to be put into something, and hopefully something greater than oneself.

I believe in God; I refuse to argue that point with anyone, and I would refuse to go into Holy War for Him, since it's insanity to have a pissing match over who's imaginary friend is better. I have faith in myself, in some ways (more are slowly becoming apparent, though); I trust my girlfriend; I trust a few of my family members.

Once again I silence.

[neoistheone]

I have faith in my family. For I know they love and care about me. I believe that they will help guide me through life and use their vast knowledge of various things to help me get through life. I have faith in God because I know he above all things understands who I am. Because he created me. He gave me a purpose to fulfill on this Earth. I believe that I will die when my time comes and that it won't happen until I fulfill what he wants me to do. I have faith in the love of my life. Because I know she loves me. And that she will help me get through my tough times. And I have faith that we will always be together and she'll always love and care about me no matter what. She's made a huge difference in my life for the better. As stupid or sad as this sounds to maybe some people, I trust her with my whole life. I trust her more than my family. I tell her everything and never hide nor lie to her about anything. I love her that much that I give her that respect. She's worth it.

[Storm]

I have faith in everyone i love. Friends, family, pets.

My friends are people who i can trust and can trust me. I do not take them gor granted nor do they. I do not have 200+ friends, as i believe that the people who i meet and get to know are those who will be loyal in the future. I kind of have this foresight of who is a nice person and who isn't, and i have stayed in close contact of 90% of them. Of course, some people change or abandon you for "better people" but these are not true friends. True friends are those, who even if you havent seen them in ages, still have the power to help them when they're feeling depressed, and will do anything to help them.

An example of this is one of my closest friends, Alex, who ive been friends with for almost 10 years. She wants to study at UCSD (San Diego), but does not want to loose contact with her friends. I really dont want her to be alone, so despite the fact that everyone i know will still be in England, miles away, i would feel worse thinking that she is alone, and since she's someone who's friends are really important to her, i cannot let her be alone.

Moving on to family. A family is obviously th people who have brought you up. Although some people have had bad backgrounds and have had unloving families, anyone who has been brought up around people they love will agree that family is really important. They are the people who, despite living in the same house and getting on eachother's nerves from time to time, will still respect you and make sure you are happy and safe. They are the ones who bring you into the world and give you a home, so it is great to have faith in them. Pets, are, if your an animal lover like me, an extension to the family. If you treat them with love you get love in return.