Why is "faith" good

Are you talking religious faith or humanistic faith?

Not being a very religious person, I can respect a person for believing in something, but when they believe in something without understanding that it is still up to them, there is a problem.

Humanistic Faith, or the belief that people will do the right thing, I think is more important.  Ultimately it is that faith that allows us to not live in fear of our fellow man.  It also allows us to work together and trust one another to get things done with positive results.

When someone becomes beholden to someone else (individual or group), then you can no longer trust them to do the right thing.  (Think Politics, Stockholders, charitable organizations, etc)  The problem here is that people are forced to put their beliefs or faith aside to appease someone else.

I guess I'm always trying to figure out why we have a conscience if there is nothing after this.  My conscience pretty much drives the way I live my life.  It seems to me that would be a useless thing to have if there was nothing after this, or maybe my soul  learned other lessons along some journey.  I know that I really have no fear of death.  It's either nothing else so when the light's out it's out......or something else is coming and I'm good with seeing what that is.  I don't need faith.  I only have control over my own actions, nothing else. Conscience.

I consider that a logical trap.  Just because you (we) can't explain something doesn't mean it becomes supernatural.  Our caveman ancestors didn't understand fire, or rivers, or the sun. They created deities and stories to explain them.  I think this is really cool and really great.  Where I take issue is when someone gets sick, or something bad happens and you hear this "I'll pray for you (them)" or "I have faith that everything will work out" 

Ok maybe it comforts you, I guess thats fine.  That doesn't make it real though. Things work out, or don't, based on things happening in the real world.  The sick get well because of their immune system and health care, not because some god waved his omnipotent hands.  When things appear miraculous, it seems overwhelmingly more likely that you just can't see the whole picture, or that the event was merely very improbable, not impossible as you had thought.

No, I don't ever see miracles, and I don't pray for people to get better, or have faith that they will.  I've seen hundreds of people die or been there in the immediate aftermath.  And I didn't say my conscience, or yours, was supernatural......of course it's not.  And it certainly isn't something I can't explain.  It's easy for me to explain my conscience.......and it continuously leads me to try to do the right thing, and it bothers me when I don't.  That's the part I can't explain.  Why do I have those feelings?  They certainly aren't necessary for survival. and my conscience serves no real purpose in getting me through to the next day......but like I said, it's the driving force in my life.  It's not a logical trap, it's a fact.  It tips the scale for me.......it gives me "probable cause" to believe there is something greater than this life.  It's not faith.

Well if you have weighed the evidence and decided that one outcome is more likely than the other, we may disagree, but I wouldn't call the "faith" per se. That is reasoning. I consider faith to be along the lines of, there is no (or little) evidence for this, but i believe it because I have "faith."

I admire you.  I think it's possible that you have a greater understanding than I do. In fact, it'd be good with me if you did. 

It doesn't really matter how your son recovered.....but I'm glad he did!

So how do you deal with religion?  When I think of the systematic abuses in the Catholic Church, and then the wars that have been fought over religion, and the outright hatred that religion seems to bring out in some people toward others who believe differently, I just can't deal with it at all.  In fact, it just feels wrong to me.

so what did christ do to deserve such faith

It is difficult to have this conversation when you don't have an understanding of Abiogenesis, but it isn't as "improbable" as you suggest.  Far more probable than a superbeing that of all things in the universe has decided that killing its own son and bringing it back to life and killin it again is the most important thing it has to do........  I mean its nice to have a catch all of well god can do anything, therefore it explains everything, but really that is a pretty unsatisfying answer.

would also like to note, that just because we can't explain it, or it is improbable, doesn't mean it didn't happen or "god did it"

if you're interested in an explanation: http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/abioprob/abioprob.html

I get your point, but you have to admit that lately no religion is very tolerant of others.  I hear people say that we have to quit looking at the people on the "radical" side of their respective religions, but really, I see that as a crock of BS since people who are not on the radical end of their religious beliefs don't seem to do much to get in the way of the hatred.  And I'm including ALL religions in that idea, not just radical Muslims, Christians, etc.

Also, whether or not they do bad things, doesn't change whether or not some kind of god does or doesn't exist.  They could all be the nicest people and be completely wrong, or terrible and be right.