Comments on: Is it the Heroic Faith?

By: Rua Lupa

Rua Lupa — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 18:16:58 +0000

I’m not one for faith, but its your path and so it can be whatever you want of it.

By: Drew Jacob

Drew Jacob — Sun, 16 Sep 2012 01:49:51 +0000

Trent, I strongly recommend you either talk to more religious people about faith, or read some interfaith resources on the topic.

Even the Wikipedia entry on it does a fair job of explaining the variations in meaning that the term has.

Frankly, viewing it as “belief in something unprovable” is a straw man, a charicature of what it means: and that’s coming from me, a man who distrusts the term.

I think that you may be conflating the beliefs that Christians have, which do assert unprovable claims, with the emotion of faith, which is a powerful and hopeful state of mind that can be directed toward loved ones, political causes, and philosophic assertions as well as the religious beliefs that you don’t care for.

(In fairness, Christians sometimes conflate the same thing; and the more I ask faithful people what “faith” means the more I am convinced that it is such a vague and highly personal term that it denotes nothing at all.)

By: Drew Jacob

Drew Jacob — Sun, 16 Sep 2012 01:44:57 +0000

What is your experience with faith, Colleen?

By: Trent Fowler

Trent Fowler — Sun, 16 Sep 2012 01:32:26 +0000

Fair enough, Arden/Drew, but the fact that the religious don’t think of their faith as an epistemological claim doesn’t mean it isn’t. Further, it’s not clear to me how a person could “trust” a proven statement. Of course you can trust that your senses or instruments are properly calibrated. But my trust that I will fall if I walk off of a cliff isn’t the same thing as my trust that my boss will pay me on time, which in turn isn’t the same as trusting that God has created a paradise for us.

By: Colleen

Colleen — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 14:25:04 +0000

On seeing the comments, I’m dismayed that “faith” has such a passive connotation for most. Particularly those who seem to think that “having faith” is somehow more limiting or that is just sort of … happens.

I see a lot of people advocating for “Life,” particularly because it’s more encompassing or more active. I think these people probably have a different experience with faith than I do.

By: Arden

Arden — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 13:58:01 +0000

I was going to say this myself. I don’t know any people of faith who would relate to your definition, Trent. Of course, you may think they’re just putting a positive spin on what they’re doing. :)

By: Drew Jacob

Drew Jacob — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 13:29:29 +0000

Very good point Em. No, I don’t wish to change that at all: the central practice of the Heroic Faith is to go on a journey. If you don’t go on a journey, you are not living the Heroic Faith.

And I just used “faith” there to see how that sounds.

By: (e)m

(e)m — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 08:33:34 +0000

I’m going to be one of the naysayers Drew. I think that the Heroic Life is much better. For me, the main reason I like the use of life, is that it connotes an active lifestyle, a way of doing, a practice. You cannot be doing the Heroic Life from your couch. Even with your definition of faith, I find the Heroic Faith problematic. Faith, in your definition, trust, is entirely in the mind. And if I recall correctly, the Heroic Life was always supposed to be an experiential religion. Or do you wish to change that?

By: Drew Jacob

Drew Jacob — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 04:11:37 +0000

Though, that said, I should say I’m not totally sold: it is a problematic term, as a number of other comments show. As long as some people (rightly or wrongly) consider faith to be “believe in the unproven/unprovable” then it has a connotation as something that I personally find foolish…

By: Drew Jacob

Drew Jacob — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 04:10:20 +0000

Like.