Part of the problem, I think, is that Judeo-Christian belief is based in
faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, while skeptics and outright atheists try to disprove God and ridicule faith in Him from a
purely intellectual, logical standpoint.
But there are many types of faith we
all exercise daily, regardless of being "religious" or not:
From Merriam-Webster:
faith
noun \ˈfāth\
a: strong belief or trust in someone or something
b: belief in the existence of God : strong religious feelings or beliefs
c: a system of religious beliefs
Examples of "strong belief or trust in someone or something" and how we pretty much have to have "faith" in them every day would be:
- Faith (trust) that our government and all our armed forces are all on our side in protecting us and our nation from enemies who would nuke us;
- faith that the city water supply really is treated and sanitized every day as it's supposed to be, so we aren't drinking microbes from pond scum, fungus and duck droppings;
- faith that the clean drinking water is going to continue to be pumped to our houses everyday without fail and without contamination;
- faith that the sewer system is going to continue every day to carry our household sewage out of the property instead of backing up into it;
- faith that the natural gas pipe lines will continue to bring us heating fuel in below-zero weather up north;
- faith that the air traffic controllers are up-to-date on their continuing education and they are not asleep in the tower when our flight is about to take off or land.
-faith that the 911 operator really is going to send the police when we call about an intruder breaking into our house
So the question I'd ask here is: Are we and everybody across the land "fools" for having faith in such institutions and systems above?
I don't think so.
Examples of b: Belief in God who keeps His promises to the patriarchs for all future generations
who believe God are best illustrated in this New Testament letter to the Hebrews, Chapter 11:
(a few examples among many.....)
11 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for.
3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command....
7 By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family......
8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going....
17 By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.”
19 Abraham reasoned that God could even raise the dead, and so in a manner of speaking he did receive Isaac back from death....
23 By faith Moses’ parents hid him....
24 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.
He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.....
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage...11&version=NIV