Why should my friend have faith?

[thresixty]

My friend has been goin thru a rough patch in his life. His stepfather is screwin his family over. I've never really experienced what he has, but we get in these intense conversations about religion and god. He always wonders why people should have faith in somethin that cannot be proven real. Its hard for me to explain, so why do YOU think people should have faith in it?
My answer was : for people to hope for the best in the future and to keep the motivated

[Gregory]

Most things with time can be proven real.

[thresixty]

we've had hundreds of years to prove it though, and yet there is no proof he exists. I'm not doubting him, but i'm not really that religious in the 1st place. I can see where my friend is comin from, but i feel like he NEEDS somethin in his life to give him hope.

[meth0dical]

i'm one of the doubters. im a strong believer in science but at the same i also believe that there could be something/someone there helping us through life. i dont believe that that something is "God", i'd rather believe that its an inner conscious.

[Gow616]

Originally Posted by thresixty

we've had hundreds of years to prove it though, and yet there is no proof he exists. I'm not doubting him, but i'm not really that religious in the 1st place. I can see where my friend is comin from, but i feel like he NEEDS somethin in his life to give him hope.

Not the only thing we have failed to prove yet with hundreds of years to research it.

What can give your friend hope is that life is **** then we die. It is simple as that.

It is how we deal with life and make the changes ourselves that can make our lives better or worse. As long as one lives there always exist a chance to change the ****tiness of life into something meaningful or fulfilling.

One must have the will to empower oneself to do something to achieve anything better and must know that with life one cannot know happiness without sadness for there exists clear defined proof that the universe is made of polar opposites. No amount of science can deny this fact or explain why it is other than it exists and is applicable to everything.

Still the issue of God... nothing can be proved absolutely on the existence of such an entity but nothing can also be proved to disapprove that existence it is all theoretical debate that should remain a philosophical debate but one that people use as scientific fact.

Extraterrestrials exist but we don't have scientific proof but it is mathematically impossible for a sentient form of life to exist somewhere other than our world. Whether they have visited Earth is a different subject for debate.

[nathanlawliet]

He should have faith so he doesn't go to hell :P

[meth0dical]

^stupid post.
he's asking a serious question and i'm sure he'd like a serious answer. not some smart-ass remark.

[EndUnknown]

Without faith, what reason is there to not 'eat a bullet' as they say? there is no punishment for doing so, or reward for not doing so, from a secular pov.

[Dragod]

Having faith just for the sake of having faith is rather silly.

He has to find what makes him want to keep going strong. Do the good things outweigh the bad? Is it fair for the people who care about you to have you gone? Others have had it worse, how did they get through it?

[Toast]

Originally Posted by thresixty

we've had hundreds of years to prove it though, and yet there is no proof he exists.

im not disagreeing with you but isnt faith the hing that does not require proof.
faith is the absence of proof but the belief in something that does not require proof. im am a non believer but it sounds like he does need something to fal back on and it sounds like faith can do that.
best of luck to your friend.

[asuro]

i have little faith............i find myself much happier assuming the worst will happen...that way im never really hurt.......for example i had this thing where i always assume ill get into a car accident, as opposed to having faith that ill be safe, and then when i got inot one and when my mom did, i wasnt scared or upset or anything. i guess its sort of pessimistic and makes me sound all dark, but im a pretty cheerful person, ud be surprised. ..........but im not gonna sit here and hate of faith bc it does bring some ppl happiness and there is nothing wrong with that, i just find that it doesnt work for me. one time i sort of gave up on religion and then i tried to pick it up again and i would pray sometimes (like once a month)......everytime i prayed something bad happened the next day. one time my parents got into a HUGE fight coming home from church. another time i just decided to pray one night and the next day someone broke into our house. so i became afraid to pray and now i just stopped having faith sort of :P

[nathanlawliet]

Originally Posted by asuro

i have little faith............i find myself much happier assuming the worst will happen...that way im never really hurt.

I believe in God, but I expect the worst to happen. Then if it happens, I'm not as dissapointed. I do pray though, especially when I think someone is trying to break into my house..

[thresixty]

Originally Posted by nathanlawliet

I believe in God, but I expect the worst to happen. Then if it happens, I'm not as dissapointed. I do pray though, especially when I think someone is trying to break into my house..

i agree iwith this. im always pessimistic so bad things dont phase me. my friend is a lil more cheerful than me though :/

[mr.handsomeman]

I think that if you believe in the wind, you can believe in God, you can feel the wind just like you feel God, even though you can't see it, you can see what the wind does, but you can always see what God does too, in peoples lives.

[nathanlawliet]

I don't really know how else to say God exists. There isn't a way to prove it.. He just has to.. I don't know. I'd like to help but there is no way to prove God. You just have to believe in him and that he cares about you.

I do but.. -sighs- My life is a mess. I really shouldn't be posting advice here, I should be taking it..

[mr.handsomeman]

look at the thread you just posted Nathan!!!!

[Marshillboy]

If none of you believe in God, how do you propose we got here? I'm sure a universe full of some gases randomly combusting and forming perfect carbon-based life forms along with the proper atmosphere and distance from the sun makes much more sense than intelligent creation.

[AquaToad]

i remember at my old church, like everyone was a jerk. so i saidto myself "is this wat christians are like? cause i dont ant to be like this." i ended up changing to a church that ive heard good things about, and i decided to be a christian. i even looked forward to church on sundy morning. just tell your friend to come on sunday (wednesday night is better if avaible,) and see how he likes it.

[asuro]

Originally Posted by Marshillboy

If none of you believe in God, how do you propose we got here? I'm sure a universe full of some gases randomly combusting and forming perfect carbon-based life forms along with the proper atmosphere and distance from the sun makes much more sense than intelligent creation.

maybe one day well find aliens and they will know the real answer...........btw i do believe in other life besides earth so thats actually a valid theory for me.....we should all hve faith tht one day aliens will tell us the truth.