faith

Belief that does not rest on logical proof or theological evidence.
Although it is the opposite of reason, belief that is based on proof and evidence, faith is not limited to the religious and theological arenas. It takes a certain amount of faith to trust causality and repeatability (refer to Hume's philosophy), two fundamental principles that scientific research is based on.
It requires just as much faith to say for certain that there is no god as it does to say there is one, perhaps even more since there is no 2000 year old book to base your arguments on.
Any beliefs that are not 100% supported by facts and evidence. This includes religious beliefs, hope for the future, and trust in other people as well as trust in the truthfulness of scientific theories.
Where there is doubt, faith is needed.

I have faith that the career path I've chosen will bring me many megatons o' moolah.

I have faith that the Bible and my church are right in their teachings, and will lead me to become a better person.

It may answer so many questions that the rest of the world leaves unanswered, but it still takes a LOT of faith to believe in something as ridiculous as quantum mechanics.

by Marco262 April 15, 2006

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faithful

Undying and relentless support for an individual or group of individuals, a sentiment that can easily span 86 years.

Yet still we are faithful; to steal the title of a movie that played in New England this past spring, still we believe. Tonight we'll once again fill the old green church of baseball on Lansdowne Street, in some part because it's the only church of baseball on Lansdowne Street, in some part because it's the only church of baseball we have; in large part because--even on mornings like this, when the clean-shaven Yankee Corporate Creed seems to rule the hardball universe--it's still the only church of baseball we can really love. No baseball team has ever come back from a three-games-to-none deficit to win a postseason series, but a couple of hockey teams have done it, and we tell ourselves it has to happen sooner or later for a baseball team, it just has to. We tell ourselves Derek Lowe has one more chance to turn 2004 from tragickal to magickal. We tell ourselves it's just one game at a time. We tell ourselves the impossible can start tonight. -Steven King in FAITHFUL, a chronicle of the 2004 season, on Red Sox fans going into Game 4 of the ALCS

by Mav1744 May 30, 2006

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faith

As defined by dictionary.com:

2.Belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence.

"We may define "faith" as the firm belief in something for which there is no evidence. Where there is evidence, no one speaks of "faith." We do not speak of faith that two and two are four or that the earth is round. We only speak of faith when we wish to substitute emotion for evidence. The substitution of emotion for evidence is apt to lead to strife, since different groups, substitute different emotions."
— Bertrand Russell (1872-1970)

by ~The Nameless One~ July 20, 2008

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