Faith is a strange thing. It means believing in something without having any proof. For example, I have not flown around the earth myself, all I have to let me know that the world is round is what I have been told by others, I have not seen proof, but I have faith that it is round.
Most people think of faith as relating to a religion, which it is, but I think that it is more a part of a description of what a religion is, rather than being interchangable with the word ‘religion’. People have no, or little, proof that what they believe is true, but there is something that tells them it is true. Religion is a type of faith. Some people say that the proof of their religion is everywhere, in trees, in animals, in the way the world works for example, others find proof in other ways. If people think or know that they have proof, does that mean that their religion is no longer a faith? Does that make them like scientists, working to find further facts that follow what they already know to be true, and to expand their knowledge?
The faith, or religion, that I have, is more like a knowledge or understanding than a faith. It is like I have always known that God exists, and that he had a son, Jesus, who walked this earth. So, I have no reason to doubt this. To me it seems like maybe a genetic knowledge, as if it has been passed down many generations, and, if we are listening, we can hear or feel the faith of our ancestors. Maybe religion has been passed down genetically from a mitochondrial Eve or a y-chromosomal Adam, and due to different interpretations and how the interpretation fitted into different cultures is what has led to the founding of the major religions.
That is why I find the question that is often asked after atrocious happenings “Did it make you doubt your faith?” a strange question, as it is not something that I am able to doubt, for I know it, and a knowledge cannot be doubted.
Hope that that made sense.
Beki.
