Faith Case

The term faith is often used when describing religion. However, it is questionable whether whether or not it is wise to rely solely on faith as faith is not entirely reliable. In order to analyze the strengths and weaknesses of faith, a good grasp of the definition is required. Faith is a conclusive belief without adequate evidence; therefore if there were evidence, it would be considered as reason, not faith. Religion is an example of faith as it is a strong belief in a God, therefore they are essentially the same thing.

Our perspective of things influence our opinions, approach and interpretation of situations. Though, our surroundings such as the people we associate with, our environment, and accessibility to our needs contribute to our perspective. It shapes who we are and in many ways contributes to our perception of things. For instance, if we were to compare two children from different parts of the world; one from the rural parts of China, and another from Canada.

In a documentary I watched a few years back, a child was shown living in the poor conditions of the SiChuan County in China. There had been no one with the capability to look after the child. In fact, the young child was expected to take care of their grandparent who had been too old to care for themselves, not to mention the child. Due to living expenses, both parents were away in the city labouring full time all year, and were allowed to only visit once a year. As I recall, the child had no form of education and lived in a small shack and left early morning walking many miles for water and digging scraps of weeds from the poor soil to cook; the child was at the age of seven. In the interview with the child, he proclaimed that he wanted nothing more but for a united family. This contrasts entirely with the life of a child of the same age born into an impoverished family in Canada.

Living the life of an impoverished family in Canada; the child would still have free health-care, and free education along with the comfort of a family. In comparison to the Chinese child from SiChuan, this Canadian child is better off in terms of lifestyle. Though throughout many news interviews, when asked for what they want they replied with answers such as Play Station 3's. Their perspectives reflect off of their lifestyles and society. This is only referring to the population of the impoverished kids in Canada, not every child is like this. With this said, both these children are the same age but are raised differently in two separate societies. Therefore their view, needs in life and requirements vary as both are different. This statement also applies for a wider view of the world such as each person in the world. Everyone is different, our culture, our beliefs, our society. They surround us and influence us as we weigh and consider each option.

On account of this, due to the diversity in perspectives among our societies; our beliefs are also different. What are beliefs? They are the products of our reasoning, and also what we rely on and consider before making decisions. They also contribute to who we are, and make up the foundations of our personality as things revolve around what we are confident in. Due to this, our beliefs would conflict with other peoples' beliefs which leads to religion. Furthermore, what exactly is religion?

Religion the one topic that has been around for thousands of years. Many examples of the most well known include; Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, and Hinduism. In addition to this, there are far more as these are the most common as many other religions are derived from these main religions. One example would include how Catholism is derived and branched off from Christianity (Adherents.com, 2005). Religion has also been a lifeline to many as it had provided moral support and hope for those who were in need of a goal to work towards. Christianity was to believed that life was supposed to be hard whereas life in heaven after death would be joyful and peaceful; also known as the payment for the hardwork on Earth. Due to this very aspect, it had helped the wealthy keep control over the labourers whereas the labourers were content with their hardwork believing that it would be payed off in heaven.

Faith is generally associated with religion, they both