BTW, the reason I refuse to answer you question is you've repeatedly ignored it so far, in many other threads: why should I waste my breath again, since protecting your faith requires you to put on blinders?
Reread this thread (and the prior ones on faith). It was answered repeatedly in those.
TEC SAID- Adamah... you fight against blind faith; or faith in men. I do the same thing.
You completely ignore the example of Rahab (given in Hebrews 11:31), the prostitute in the town of Jericho, who had to put her faith in the men (the Hebrew spies) who told her to hang a red fabric from her window to be saved. She heard no voice from heaven saying, "Rahab! I will save you IF you put a red cloth out your window!". She put her faith in the men, the spies, who promised her salvation and were supposedly relaying the Will of Jehovah.
You also ignore the mention of the name of Jephthah, who asked God for assistance in prayer to help him conquer the Ammonites, and even made a foolish vow to offer the first living thing to emerge from his house, if victory was given to him by God.
There's no mention of his hearing the voice of God ordering him to fight against the enemy, or directing him to offer his daughter as a burnt offering, but Jephthah fought the battle on faith, and even fulfilled his hastily-made vow on faith, since he clearly feared the consequences of NOT keeping his vow to God. Jephthah's daughter was another victim of FAITH.
See, that's how the building of faith is carried out: a convert to Xianity starts by reading of the accounts in the OT (which is exactly WHY Paul offers these examples of men of faith). Slowly that trust is transferred to those who claim to speak as the servants of God (be it the Governing Body, or Jim Jones, or the Pope). Same schtick, just a different flavor of it.
But in all cases, it starts out by believing in God and Jesus, and inevitably the faith is transferred to mortal men who contol the faithful like marionettes on a string. It's the oldest scam in the book, but so believers few see it (or they DO see it, but it's an unwritten rule that to speak against faith is like telling a classful of kindergarteners that Santa isn't real: the person who does it is looked at like the Grinch who stole XMas).
Unfortunately, there's many believers who allow their own selfish desires to blind them to the dangers of faith, of believing in a fantasy, which is down-right deadly to some individuals who are eg struggling with mental health issues, and already have enough trouble discerning reality from make-believe where adding demons to the mix is downright toxic.
But I forgot: it's all about YOU, right?
TEC SAID- There is nothing dangerous about faith in Christ. If you are listening to HIM, EVEN if that means beginning with what He is WRITTEN to have said and done. But if you start listening to men... well then, you get the jws, for example. You get shunning. You get religion. You get suicides and wars and torture and executins, fought and done in the name of God... but all LIES.
Let me guess: those are not TRUE Xians, right?
See, that's the problem: if you share the same belief in God and Jesus as the other Xians, then you also share some of the blame for the actions they do in their names. Otherwise, you're citing the "no true Scotsman" fallacy, and each group points at the others and makes the same defense; then no one can be held accountable for the damaging effects of faith.
But the fact is, since you share the profession of faith as a virtue, you share in their crimes.
Terry said-
This topic is a matter of personal taste, subjective point of view and interpretation of internal calculus which cannot successfully be debated. Would you argue against a person who tells you their molar hurts?
It's turned into a discussion of the virtue of faith, itself, i.e. a discussion of what the ramifications of adopting a faith-based approach (i.e. zero evidence before acting) vs the skeptic's asking for evidence before adopting a belief. Hebrews 11 differentiates between having internal faith vs demonstrating faith, or professing others to lead a faith-based lifestyle.
Adam
