i was thinking about faith this morning...

...as i walked the dog.  we were about seven minutes into a 30-minute walk, when i got something in my eye.  this wasn't a minor irritation that could wait until i got home to the mirror - nope.  it was a substantial bit of debris that demanded that i stick my fingers in my eye repeatedly.  problem was, kenya had just dropped an unusually large load, which--being a responsible dog owner--i had dutifully picked up. 

and this is when it occurred to me: i have faith in the integrity of the dog-pooh bags.  i have faith not because i have any empirical evidence, but because i have to.  because the alternative is to become a neurotic, incapacitated, obsessive-compulsive mess of a human being.  i must have faith in the pooh bags. 

and i realized that this is probably what it comes down to: we have faith because the alternative is untenable. 

so - what do you have faith in, and what is the alternative?

'we have faith because the alternative is untenable.'

maybe so. Will need to ponder this one.

i had a similar moment while driving to boston last weekend. 

regarding specifically the afterlife. 

i used to be very religious, but just sort of.. fell out of it. I consider myself agnostic now, or perhaps just "confused."  i lost my mother 3 years ago, and always thought that she was still "with me" and that her amazing energy continued into an afterlife of some sort.  

but then i thought about it.  i believe in an afterlife, because the idea that it all just ends is too unbearable.  and yet, perhaps, that is exactly how it happens?  we talk about "heaven" or an afterlife for people, sometimes pets, but what about EVERYTHING else? ants?  bed bugs?  snakes? worms? birds? 

i had another incredible feeling that i am alone, small, and doomed to have my energy snuffed out like everything else when my time here on earth is done.  that feeling was so intense, i literally had to pull over.

i have to have faith in some form of afterlife.  because the alternative is far too terrifying :\

weak, maybe, but it keeps me driving...

From poo to the human condition in three paragraphs.  I have faith that you will always make CC interesting.

In trying to answer your question, fear comes to mind. Faith protects me from fearing the unknown, I guess. Faith in myself. Faith in the Universal Energy.

faith as an emotional prophylactic. hmmm.

Hello the superbex..

I had to comment on your post because I was drawn to it...

I feel the same way, really. I grew up with a Dad believing that God created Man and a Mom believing that Man created God. Yea, I'm pretty confused about the whole thing, too, perhaps more ignorant than agnostic.

I lost both my folks in 2004-six months apart. I HAVE to believe in some kind of afterlife. When I was struggling with my alcoholism at the time, right after my Dad passed, my Mom wondered whether he might perhaps "be in a position to help me get into recovery and get better".  Well, he did with, of course, a huge effort on my part and the help and fellowship of AA. However, it was only after my Mom passed six months later that I had stopped drinking. I put myself into a year long women's rehab and kept my "safety nets" afterward and continue to do so today. 

Without the faith that they were watching over me and with me throughout my whole recovery process, I sincerely feel that I wouldn't be here today.

I NEED the satisfaction of knowing that there is something.....some magical place where we are reborn to continue the ultimate quest of loving ourselves  and others.

So, I understand you completely when you say you need to have faith in the afterlife. I remark with ignorance, but it's that faith which keeps me going strong.

If faith is a state of mind, I agree with you. I too consider myself an agnostic, not because I don’t want to believe, but because of all the crap that is done in the name of organised religion.

I do have faith though. I have faith in people; I have faith in independent thought, progress and love. And the little Blanch Deveroux in all of us still depends on the kindness of strangers.

I believe in karma, not that it’s a force that that will punish the wicked and reward that good, but rather that you get what you give. If you live your life smiling at strangers, sharing yourself and what is yours, you will get it back. People will smile back, and share with you what they have. And then you live in a world of kind, giving, smiling people.

I too would love to believe that there is more after this life, but from what I have been told since childhood, heaven is only for the believers, so I would rather there be nothing than having to spend eternity in hell.

I don’t know. Maybe religion was invented back in the day when we did not know how to explain the origin and reason for things, and we still hold on to this because facing the big, dark nothingness is just too hard. And we all want to believe that our loved ones are in a “better place”.

Original Post by kathygator:

In trying to answer your question, fear comes to mind. Faith protects me from fearing the unknown, I guess. Faith in myself. Faith in the Universal Energy.

faith as an emotional prophylactic. hmmm.

yes!  i fear the pooh.  the bag is my prophylactic.

gotta go to work.  have fun!

"I believe in karma, not that it’s a force that that will punish the wicked and reward that good, but rather that you get what you give. If you live your life smiling at strangers, sharing yourself and what is yours, you will get it back. People will smile back, and share with you what they have. And then you live in a world of kind, giving, smiling people. "

blue-I share those thoughts exactly...

I have faith that you'll make it to my birthday party.  The only alternative is if you don't, I'm buying the house next to yours.

Original Post by thesuperbex:

i used to be very religious, but just sort of..

Huh. How does that work?

For me personally, I have faith that after death we cease to exist. For me, that's a peaceful and calming thought. Is there any better way to describe "resting in peace" than just slowly returning to the soil?

I had nine friends in high school who have since died. Yes, I ran with a crowd who were perpetually up to no good. And paid a high price for it. despite how much I cared for them, I'm happy with the idea that they are no longer around, whether on this planet or in heaven. They did exist, and even after I died I still will have existed at one time. For me that is enough.

Original Post by merylwhite1:

Original Post by thesuperbex:

i used to be very religious, but just sort of..

Huh. How does that work?

That's not what I said, my punctuation could have been more clear.  I said: I used to be very religious. But just sort of.. fell out of it.

I was very religious.  Church on Sundays, I taught Bible School, loved my chuch, my god, all of it. 

Then... it just... went... away. 

'we have faith because the alternative is untenable.'

Faith, like control, is an illusion.

Wow, so many things people have faith in; karma, the universe, some people sleep with rocks under their pillow.  I'm not a "shove Christianity down your throat" kind of girl, but if you feel that need to have faith in something, try Jesus.  He's not old school.  He was against legalistic, "organized religion"(you must be thinking of the Pharisees).  I am just a normal person that makes mistakes, strives to be kind, loving, forgiving, but fail sometimes.  That's where forgivness comes in and that's priceless, but free to all.  The best part is that there's a handbook (the Bible)!!!  Everyone wants one for their life, but when it's given to us, we put it in the bossy, legalistic, over-bearing catagory.  There are other handbooks out there, but if you want to put that faith to good use, the Bible is the one to pick.  I could be wrong, but what if I'm right?  Either way, life is good and the future is bright.  

Original Post by kkempinski:

'we have faith because the alternative is untenable.'

Faith, like control, is an illusion.

 disagree - if a person harbors faith, and draws strength from it, it becomes real. It is however a choice.

Original Post by itchandscratch:

Wow, so many things people have faith in; karma, the universe, some people sleep with rocks under their pillow.  I'm not a "shove Christianity down your throat" kind of girl, but if you feel that need to have faith in something, try Jesus.  He's not old school.  He was against legalistic, "organized religion"(you must be thinking of the Pharisees).  I am just a normal person that makes mistakes, strives to be kind, loving, forgiving, but fail sometimes.  That's where forgivness comes in and that's priceless, but free to all.  The best part is that there's a handbook (the Bible)!!!  Everyone wants one for their life, but when it's given to us, we put it in the bossy, legalistic, over-bearing catagory.  There are other handbooks out there, but if you want to put that faith to good use, the Bible is the one to pick.  I could be wrong, but what if I'm right?  Either way, life is good and the future is bright.  

I don't have a lot of faith in the Bible.  I went to a Bible study once where the leader told me I was going to Heaven because I believed, but my husband was going to Hell because he didn't.  For me (and only me) the Bible is a book written by men to meed their own ends.

Original Post by kathygator:

Original Post by kkempinski:

'we have faith because the alternative is untenable.'

Faith, like control, is an illusion.

 disagree - if a person harbors faith, and draws strength from it, it becomes real. It is however a choice.

 So, if your faith was misplaced, what happens to it?

You learn the lesson for next time. Same as if love or regard are misplaced.

I have faith that, if I fart in a store and walk away quickly, nobody will blame the smell on me.

The alternative would be a life full of gas pains.

Yes I've gotta have faith...
Mmm, I gotta have faith
'Cause I gotta have faith, faith, faith,
Mm 'cause I gotta have faith-a-faith-a-faith

Are the poo bags new?  Have you never used those poo bags before? 

If so then you rely on the physical integrity of the bags, their apperance etc. ... these plastic baggies carried home my groceries and have no holes so therefore I will use them for poo and not have to touch the poo. 

If you have used the poo bags before then you do have empirical evidence.  In the past these bags have helped me collect and transport the poo to the garbage without soiling my hands with the poo...this bag will be no different.

IMO, whatever that is worth, Faith has nothing to do with it... experience does.  Faith only enters the equation when you equate (and it can be equated) faith to trust.  Faith, in the nonreligious definition of the word, means trust but it is trust that implies proof while faith doesn't.  Faith is belief without proof...

Would you really touch poo with a plastic baggie on your hand if you didn't have proof that you would never actually touch the poo?