Tuesday, November 20, 2007

The Difference Between Faith and Trust

It sounds awful to say, but I don't believe I have faith in anything or anyone. Before any of my family or friends react with outrage, please bear with me as I explain.

Every time I get into my car, I put on my seat belt. I do so even though I will probably not need it. In fact, if I were to drive a whole week without wearing my seat belt, it probably wouldn't matter. But I would never do that because of the statistics. These statistics are supported with evidence that I see on the road, hear on traffic reports, watch on the news, and hear about from other people.

So what does all that have to do with my faith (or lack thereof). One could say that I have faith in the traffic reports, the untested seat belt, or the veracity of other people's stories. I would disagree with that statement, because my attitude toward those things does not constitute faith, it constitutes trust.

Faith is the belief in something regardless of whatever evidence that may exist to disprove it. Trust is the reliance on something that is built upon experience. We are taught to have faith, but we learn on our own how to trust.

We learn to trust our family, because they provide and support us from a young age. We learn to trust our friends, because they support us when family cannot. We learn to trust authority, and authority figures gain trustworthiness based on performance or accuracy. We learn to trust ourselves, because we know our strengths and weaknesses. But when our family, friends, authority figures, and our own impulses betray us, our trust weakens. When we have no trust left, what can we rely on?

For many, people turn to religion. It provides hope and a stability that can be a powerful aid during times of crisis. It allows someone to turn off that part of their brain that calls for reason and just experience relief. It is the one place that can be counted on for acceptance, which is why when things are going so rough for people, their lives turn around for the better once they open a Bible or set foot in a church.

But what do I rely on? I rely on what I've experienced to be true. In my experience, when times get tough for a person, a family, a community, or even a nation, people chip in to help, regardless of whether or not the people know each other. Some do it for religious reasons, others do it for tax breaks, and others do it because it makes them feel good. But whatever the motives behind a person's desire to be help out, the result is the same: there will always be people who help people. This is not faith in humanity, but a trust in humanity. It is a trust that is fulfilled every time there is a natural disaster and help arrives, and a trust that is betrayed when help does not. But through it all, there will always be those who have a character to give it their all for the sake of their fellow man.

Which is why I don't have faith in my family and friends. I trust my family and friends. I trust them with my life.

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