The following post will not fulfill its purpose or make full sense, unless the entire series of posts it’s a part of is read in order. You are therefore encouraged to start with the introduction.
Category #1 - Good Non-Rational Faith
Good non-rational faith is the beneficial belief in matters that are difficult to rationalize or back up with sufficient rational and empirical evidence. Its goodness is the nearest thing we have to that of a universal kind (if such a thing even does exist in the absolute sense of the word).
Given that it’s non-rational and non-empirical, it does not clash with reason or contradict it. It is also essentially based on feelings and intuitions.
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The ability to sense it is inherent in all of us, but the way we manifest what we sense and the language we use to describe it is learned.
Below are some examples of good non-rational faith in action.
The unconditional love a mother has for her child.
Aicha’s son is addicted to cocaine. She’s worried about him. She’s distressed with pain. She’s disappointed and at times uncertain about what the future holds for him.
Yet, Aicha believes he’ll get better. Yet, she showers him with unconditional love and maintains her faith in him.
And as Aicha believes all of this, she can’t provide any sufficient rational evidence to support this unfounded belief of hers. The truth of the matter is that she does not know what will happen to her son.
Nobody does.
Rationally speaking, her belief’s validity is neither provable nor disprovable. We’re all agnostic to it. We don’t know if it’s true or false. It’s just faith, an intangible uplifting and empowering faith.
Indeed, Aicha’s son could very well end up fully recovering… or also dying from an overdose. But it doesn’t matter. Aicha remains faithfully optimistic.
That’s good faith. It is the kind worthy of respect and reverence. It is necessary for basic survival, let alone making our world a better place. Even atheists have it whether knowingly or not.
We need more of it.
The Ethiopian runner who’s determined to break the Olympic record and has a deep conviction he will do so successfully thanks to his faith in Allah Almighty
Sure, the Ethiopian Omar trained with professionals for hundreds of hours, but that doesn’t mean he’ll break the record. It doesn’t even mean he’ll end up in the top three for sure. It also doesn’t mean he’ll be able to donate his prize money for charity as he sincerely intends.
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He might get a cramp in his leg during his big day. A bird might fly out of nowhere and poop on his head. You never know, but despite the uncertainties, Omar has faith that Allah is watching over him and will give him the power and determination to win.
After all, Allah loves those who help the poor and needy. Allah blesses those who seek to alleviate the suffering of orphans, something which is neither rationally and empirically provable nor disprovable, simply because Allah’s existence isn’t.
Yet, Omar believes. Yet, he has faith inspired by what Allah instructs in Meccan verses from the Quran, and while this specific spiritual component of his faith in the unseen may admittedly be attached to troubling aspects like religious dogmatism and separation theology, it still is nonetheless in itself good faith.
It is beautiful, uplifting and something I consider sacred.
Every day, all around me, I see it being a powerful force for good in the lives of many.
Sure, that doesn’t make it necessarily true, and it shouldn’t be believed with dogmatic delusional certainty, but we must admit that it’s beneficial in such cases.
Atheists may wrongly oppose it because of its metaphysical dimension and religious nature, but it is in essence and definition no different from Aicha’s non-metaphysical faith.
It is also no different from Javier’s, a Christian runner from Brazil who wants to win in the Olympics and donate his prize money for charity too.
This is because while Omar’s natural intrinsic desire for certainty and a sense of purpose (inherent in all of us) manifested itself in the form of faith in Allah, for Javier, it manifested in the form of faith in Jesus thanks to a Christian upbringing and verses from the Bible that encourage charity.
On the other hand, for the Californian runner John, an ardent student of the New Age movement, it manifested in the form of faith in a Conscience Universe and the Law of Attraction.
In all cases, the faith of Aicha, Omar, Javier and John is the same in essence, and when they disagree about it amongst themselves, it’s all really just semantics.
None of them can back up the validity and truth of their beliefs and nobody can disprove them either, yet they still believe what they individually believe.
Yet, they have faith. They have…
… good non-rational faith.
Up next: Category #2 - “Good” Non-Rational Faith
SudaneseThinker
SudaneseThinker
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m not sure I’d quite call what you’re referring to here as “faith”. I think perhaps a better label for it is “hope”. Hope that things can be better. I would think all 3 of those runners and Aicha, if they are being honest with themselves, know perfectly well that they can’t dictate the outcome. Unless they are claiming they got some bolt out of the sky revelatory experience (which would take us into an altogether different category of “faith” which I’m guessing you’ll get to later), what they really have here is a hope that things can work out for the best.
But then again (obviously I’m thinking as I type here), perhaps that hints at a different level of what you’re referring to that could be categorized as faith. That is, that by continuing to train and run one’s best or continuing to shower one’s addicted son with love and support, that no matter what the outcome is, it will be for the best. A belief in that - which involves a healthy degree of letting go and trusting that what you are doing has an inherent degree of positive karma, that God or whatever spiritual force you believe in will make sure things turn out for the good even if you don’t know the path things will take to get there - I think is faith.
Guess you could say the runner or the mother has “faith” if they firmly believe their son will get better or they’ll win the race. That could be a positive or negative type of faith depending on the form it takes (blindly denying reality or pushing forward in positive manners based on conviction). But I think the middle ground you describe of saying that things will turn out the way one wants even while knowing internally a range of outcomes is possible, is more like hope. A generally positive hope though I agree.
I agree with Jamal sounds more like hope to me. You can have that without faith in a God
Jamal,
Hope is about wishing for good outcomes, while at the same time realizing in a big way that they may not turn out to be true.
All the examples given above are not about hope. Sure, hope and optimism is part of the picture, but both alone won’t do the job.
They’re about believing that the outcome you want *will* happen. It’s about a deep conviction that leads to persistence and strong determination in the face of all odds.
Lynn,
It’s faith, the belief in something without the rational and empirical evidence to back it up. If you insist it’s hope, then define it for me.
Plus, this post isn’t about “can” or “should” but about what *is.* And for millions faith *is* what I’ve explained above, good faith.
Good post Drima,
Here are my thoughts on the subject from the perspective of an atheist.
Many people will distinguish between what they believe and what they know even though they think both are true. This is where we get into the subtle differences between belief and knowledge. A belief is not necessarily something that has been given serious consideration while knowledge on the other hand has. The problems usually arise when people falsely assert this type of belief as knowledge.
That being said, I personally do not consider unreflective belief to be admirable in any form. Being able to see the good in someone you care about or having a strong desire for a certain outcome is a positive motivational experience, but this does not require belief that it will necessarily happen to get the benefits you are referring to. It is something experienced directly that has nothing to do with truth. You just need to focus on the belief that it is possible and that working hard will make the desired outcome more likely.
Glad you enjoyed it Zoxuf.
“It is something experienced directly that has nothing to do with truth.”
In the examples I gave above, truth and knowledge are both unknowable and herein faith is our remaining option since evidence is absent.
“You just need to focus on the belief that it is possible and that working hard will make the desired outcome more likely.”
Yeah, but there is always a level of uncertainty still present, hence the good power of faith in such scenarios.
My only argument is that you do not need to believe that something “will” happen or that it is even probable to achieve the benefits you described in those examples . I view the source of the benefit as the emotional desire for an outcome and not the belief in an outcome. Hence I do not share your admiration for this version of faith nor do I really have anything against it.
Hi Zoxuf,
From the experience of those around me and my own, I’d say it’s hard to have the sufficient motivating emotional desire for an outcome without belief in the outcome’s occurrence.
Even in Sports, I’ve never experienced or seen a coach telling a team that they if they train hard they “may” win but that they *will* win.
Of course the team realizes there’s a chance it could lose, and hence they don’t have absolute delusional certainty in the outcome. However, they don’t merely believe it its possibility. They believe that it *will* happen if they play well.
That takes strong faith.
Plus, I do have a question relating to your opinions on belief vs knowledge.
You said…
“A belief is not necessarily something that has been given serious consideration while knowledge on the other hand has. The problems usually arise when people falsely assert this type of belief as knowledge. ”
So, wouldn’t you say that your atheism is a belief in the non-existence of God rather than knowledge? And if yes, isn’t that problematic?
I may be wrong, but I get the impression that you’re not a fan of faith in general, and in such a case wouldn’t you say that atheism is itself a faith, albeit one in the non-existence of God?
Just curious, as I enjoy reading your comments and insights.
I still think that it is a matter of desire. The person that wants something the most will usually have an advantage because they push themselves harder. What is important is the belief that what you want is worthy of the risk of failure. This strong desire may influence ones beliefs but the belief itself is not required for the motivation. I view it as a symptom of the passion and not the cause.
Consider this hypothetical. If you knew that by winning a race you could end all war and suffering in the world, but only thought you had a 1% chance of winning, would you be less motivated to try than if you thought you would win?
I think the coach is just using a bit of hyperbole to create excitement. That same coach will usually tell them not to get cocky and overconfident. In my view the team that does not take winning for granted will be more motivated to push themselves.
So, wouldn’t you say that your atheism is a belief in the non-existence of God rather than knowledge? And if yes, isn’t that problematic?
The term atheism as I use to describe my position is simply the lack of a belief that God does exist. It is not a belief in the non-existence of God, though I find the concept unnecessary and unlikely. It does also depend a bit on what God we are talking about. I am considerably more skeptical to the God claims of specific religions than I am to God in general.
After thinking about it for awhile I think we may both be right to a certain extent. Our beliefs do influence our emotions so I could see how the belief that hard work will guarantee a win could increase motivation but I reject the notion that you can not achieve the same sort of motivation from focusing on the desired outcome and the knowledge that hard work will make it more likely. It’s all a matter of how someone focuses the mind. Two different people could get the same level of determination in different ways. Ultimately both a driven by emotion but the two find different paths to stimulate that emotion.
I may be wrong, but I get the impression that you’re not a fan of faith in general
I value things like trust, hope, and optimism but faith… no not really. Since the type of faith we are talking about is mostly harmless I do not begrudge those that get joy or comfort from it. It’s just not for me.
Good non-rational faith is the beneficial belief in matters that are difficult to rationalize or back up with sufficient rational and empirical evidence
In all of those cases they were rational and empirical people that took the right steps in order to believe that things beyond their control might happen but their belief comforts them. They have trained, recognized addiction and so on, so in case anything goes against it the thought that they can offload the blame for failure on a the supernatural is a comforting idea to them; “it wasn’t god’s will”. Based on empirical studies you can have an idea of the chances of her kid’s ability to kick the habit or of omar’s chances to win the race, The only reason this belief is “beneficial” and not harmful is because they already took the steps to protect their hopes from failing miserably. if he is having crappy track records before the marathon no amount of belief will manage to push him close to winning.
That is irrational belief, when believe in the supernatural to have a larger effect on your circumstances than your own abilities.
So there is really no good or beneficial non-rational belief, because it all depends on ignoring available evidence because it challenges the belief (simply any human can try to calculate the percentage of answered prayers, and see the rationality of it)
“because it all depends on ignoring available evidence”
Ok, sorry, this really is just a picky little aside (though I think it’s an important point) and not a response to your whole comment. But while I’m no professional statistician, I have spent enough time educating myself on statistics, chance, and fields of application to know that “available evidence” in almost every critical endeavor in life is far far far (did I mention ‘far’?) thinner than we usually delude ourselves into thinking. The scientific process in fact never teaches us anything with certainty because the realm of possibilities in the universe is so infinitely vast. It simply can let us know what is *not* true. We can use deduction and logic from what we don’t know to zero in on useful rules that within a certain range of experience have to date proven beneficial. But as we say in the financial markets I work in (where these shortcomings are particularly obvious to those with even mildly inquisitive minds), past performance in no guarantee of future performance. It was perhaps one of the greatest scientific minds of the modern era who put it best “We don’t know one-millionth of one percent about anything.” - Thomas Edison
All I’m saying is, we live in such a limited corner of the universe, our minds constantly need to be open to the possibility of wild unthinkable alternative realities. Not that we live our lives by them, after all even in financial markets trend followers have learned that “localized” rules can be quite profitable, even more so in places where they seem more sticky such as medicine, engineering, etc. But perhaps we should take a lesson from Tayeb Saleh’s book the Duma of Wad Hamid and acknowledge that sometimes the apparently irrational behavior of others may actually have something behind it, even if our version of logic doesn’t grasp it and even if the explanation we get from the proponents of it doesn’t satisfy us at first (or even last) glance.
Jamal,
But as we say in the financial markets I work in (where these shortcomings are particularly obvious to those with even mildly inquisitive minds), past performance in no guarantee of future performance.
Couldn’t agree more. I’d also add that the moment we place ourselves in the world of total predictability and concrete certainty of our collected scientific knowledge is the moment we’ve crossed from progression to stagnation.
Regression soon follows.
But hey, we can all just play a merry game of statistics and follow the law of the biggest percentage. At which point, we might as well move our brains into the OFF mode.
A human being is not a logic mill. It is not a computer. Two of the central-most aspects of mankind are our ability to build systems of rules to analyze the universe we reside in to better understand it, and our ability to think outside this system. Removing the latter to prevent “wrong” thinking is akin to lobotomizing a person to prevent violent tendencies.
Drima -
I know it’s not related in any way, but I want your opinion as a Faqih. A Circassian friend’s wife wouldn’t let him smoke weed, claiming it’s forbidden by Islam.
What is this nonsense?! I was sure Islam had redeeming qualities, now she’s trying to take them away?
‘wouldn’t let him smoke weed, claiming it’s forbidden by Islam’
yeah right, like weed is worse than qat right? As if Mohammed didn’t chew qat.
Lynn - or worse than nargilah with lots and lots of very strong coffee
But I am looking for a hint as to where I can find support for ganja being legal in Quran, Hadith and Sira (so that I can try convincing the damn woman
).
Jamal You really are nitpicking over there … I was referring to the available evidence in those cases and ignoring available evidence is surely not a rational or beneficial thing ! Even in financial markets.
You and roman seem to have confused truths with evidence, We might not have all the evidence required to make an argument but evidence is what leads us to infer possible truths since absolute truths are the realm of religion and not rationality and logic.
but we can’t make decisions on what we don’t know, and good and evil are governed by actions not by thought. We were certainly discussing actions when we mentioned good, so simply i was arguing that there are no good non-rational believes , you didn’t provide a counter argument based on what we know you just inferred the obvious of that “we just don’t know”
Abu Sa’ar well there is no outright ban of it like alcohol and the ban was using qiyas (inferring a rule from already available similar rule) and that is of alcohol. The reasoning is that it withers your mind, now if you can claim that it doesn’t do that and that it doesn’t cause any social harm then it can take the same controversial status of qat *which is generally forbidden as well*. So your SOL unless your creative as hell
Ganga is used to help you meditate and become closer to the ‘creator’.
If there is no mention of it directly it is allowed.
Drima-
im curious about your thoughts on christopher hitchen and richard dawkin and how they concieve faith. for example, from another percpective i can see faith’s role in society to help people survive especially in areas of the thirld world. so you could see as a evolutionary component that developed for the survival for our spieces. so being true or false becomes irrelavent in this sense.
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