Absolute faith and absolute trust are formulas for absolute failure. Along with faith comes expectations. If you don't have expectations, regarding whatever issue you have faith in, then faith is a useless word. Faith describes the expectation of some consequence.
A person benefits from, or is hindered by, the genetic intelligence passed on to them by their parents. A person only knows what they experience, and can only use the information in which they are taught. Their feelings telling them of some condition to have faith, are most often misleading. A leader you thought you could trust deceives you. A person you love turns against you.
Ever wonder where those feelings come from? In your brain, they are a way in which the complex relationships related in any way to the state of your memories and thought processes (subconscience) couple with your present physical condition. The feelings you experience are those influences touching the core of your mind where your cognitive-being exists. This is where you are self-aware.
We find it difficult to interact with other animals because other animals exist mentally in a free flowing process of what we call our subconcience. Imagine not having a cognitive layer in your thought processes where you are self aware. You would still have empathy, dreams, hunger, pain, ... But you would not have that universe within your mind where you cognitively play out scenarios to increase your chances of making a better choice. No what-if scenarios are possible for most other species of animals to use as a tool. What-If scenarios are carried out through genetic intelligence being passed on from one generation to the next. The vegetarian crow learns to eat road kill (this has happened over the last 30 years). Cognitive thoughts in most species evolved from generation to generation instead of moment to moment. We see it as survival of the fittest that brought about this behavior, instead of what they are, cognitive thoughts. Our minds process cognitive thoughts by creating a virtual reality, we develop a thought and see if it survives. There are of course, exceptions like octopus, dolphin, and whales where they have similar capabilities as people.
So what is Faith based upon? A feeling? We already know with certainty that our feelings mislead us most often. So no person can have absolute trust in their Faith, if faith is based upon feelings. No person can have absolute faith; or they by necessity must not use their cognitive being. Absolute faith regarding any subject can ONLY occur in persons unwilling, or incapable, of thinking beyond a very small body of knowledge.
Faith is a useful tool, it allows our minds to create working relationships when we don't have enough information to work with. A businessman has a leap of faith when he starts a business, not knowing if it will be successful. A student has a leap of faith as they are taught a variety of information, hoping that one day they will learn enough to better understand the working relationships of the subject. But as we actively learn, we also find many holes in the material presented to us. We have less faith when we ourselves discover new relationships that better fit all that we know; we begin to know. We begin filling some of those holes with information. Our faith evolves into a more meaningful body of information. Less faith, more knowing.
We must be ever diligent to guard against, where that which we believe, is only supported by that which we seek (circular logic). If ALL that we know does not fully agree with that which we have faith, then that which we have faith is not fully correct. Our concept of love is flawed if we expect any person to act rationally every moment of their life. If a person lives within a small artificial world of thought, then their truths only apply within thier small world and can not absolutely be applied anywhere else.
The most destructive lie, is the lie told to oneself.
No statement made in any language can have an absolute interpretation. Therefore, no statement made by any person can absolutely be true. Do "Graviton" exist, there are strong relationships that tend to support its existence; but in all likelihood the concept of a graviton will just help us to understand how to interact with something we can not currently discuss meaningfully. The discussion is only the basis for further inspiration leading to an attempt to understand, inspiration has no direct connection to reality, but through inspiration we might find a path to our desired destination. We can only choose a path, but we must realize we are most often not even on the path, we are on a journey to find the path. That is why we have cognitive brains, if used, they help us in the journeys we willfully take.
Take 40 of the major religious groups in the world, divide each by at least three (3) major subdivisions such as Catholics, Protestants, and Mormons (obviously there are many more). That means at least 120 different religions have followers who declare to have faith, and many of them declare to have absolute faith in their religion. Rounding down to 100 possible faiths (the actual number is in the tens of thousands regarding major differences in stated beliefs) to make calculations easier. The chances of any one person to have chosen the correct faith is no better than 1 in 100. And since most people do not choose their faith, it is forced upon them during their childhood, they wilfully are not looking to choose their faith. Any person who declares absolute faith then is separating themselves from EVERY OTHER PERSON ON THE EARTH, because no two people believe in the same exact thing. Absolute means without exception! There are currently about 6.5 Billion people. So a person with Absolute Faith has a one in 6.5 Billion chance of being correct; which in terms of probability, approaches Zero.
"Absolute Faith" is like a person on a deserted island; their life revolves around simple issues, most issues totally unrelated to other peoples realities; their world fragile and easily broken.
"Useful faith" is like a person in a row boat stranded out at sea; following a star to lead them home, finding an island they stop for supplies, seeing another island they stop following the star, continuing on their journey along many different paths, ultimately taking them closer to home.
Neither method may take you home, but staying on the deserted island ensures you will never get home.
Faith is only the spark of inspiration by which a person must work from; it is not the end of the journey.
