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I’ve often wondered this over he last couple months. Are faith and supersitition really the same thing? From our North American perspective, we label natives in deep Africa as superstitious because they attribute phenomena WE happen to understand to divine forces, such as “The God of Rain”, for example. But really, are we any different? While we attribute rain to the weather, and understand what makes it happen, we also have faith in forces that explain things we don’t completly understand.
Is faith really just superstition regarding unknowns that we have not yet learned to explain?
Great question, SD – and it relates directly to something that is critical to Stage 5 thinking, imo. If we define “superstittion” as explanations of the unknown and “faith” as the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen, then they are the same thing. Similarly, if we define “scientific hypothesis” as a best guess prior to the discovery of conclusive evidence, we begin to see how vital a role belief in the unknown is.
It’s not “faith” (or even “doubt”) that is the issue; it’s the approach we take to having faith or doubt that matters. It’s our willingness to accept that we need “faith/superstition/hypothesis/etc” in order to grow and learn.
Do we try to understand whatever we can – and not disparage those who also are trying to understand whatever they can simply because they don’t understand exactly as we understand (or even don’t accept that of which we are convinced)? Do we leave ourselves open to modify our understanding? Do we accept that not all can be open to the same degree – and that there must exist a tension between total openness (and the risks it brings) and limited openness (and the security it provides)?
I assume superstition when I start thinking that some action or non action of mine is going to trigger a response from God to either bless or curse, if not me then everyone in general. I’ve been able to make sense of the world if I see God as someone not intimately involved in my life. Not everyone likes that or sees it that way but if he doesn’t talk to me then why should I think he’s making my tomatoes die becuase I didn’t go home teaching. I think of superstition as something based on habit or “traditions of our fathers”. We may believe it, it may shape our thoughts and what we expect or hope for in the future, but it is not based on real truth, but more on what we’ve been told (“Old Wives tales”). It is more random, but places meaning to things because it is fun to believe in it. Example of superstitions: Pitchers jump over the line when walking off the field…stepping on it is “bad luck”. There is no knowledge base or truth base to this…just something they do and when they have good games they attribute it to the superstitions. Believing in it sometimes has positive benefits, because of positive thoughts…having nothing to do with the thing itself.
Faith, on the other hand, when pertaining to our salvation, is faith in God based on knowledge we have up to a certain point, but then allows belief and hope to be extrapolated out based on the knowledge base and truth supporting that faith. The more knowledge you gain, the more faith you extrapolate. The more you stretch your faith, the more knowledge you can gain through personal experience.
Examples of faith: The pitcher will not take steroids because he has faith God will bless him for being honest and being healthy. He may not win as many games, but his character and integrity grow by making choices that make him become more like God. Faith in God helps him become a better person.
However, I think sometimes people mistake faith…and then it is no more than superstition. For example, praying to God to ask God to bless your team to win over the other team. Or professing to know the church is true without studying it out or seeking answers but just saying the words because your parents tell you to say it. With these examples, there is no knowledge or truth underlying that faith…and so the faith is in vain. It is no different than throwing salt over your shoulder.
No, I believe that they’re slightly different. To have superstition, you have to have a form of faith, but one precedes the other. Heber13 wrote:Example of superstitions: Pitchers jump over the line when walking off the field…stepping on it is “bad luck”. There is no knowledge base or truth base to this…just something they do and when they have good games they attribute it to the superstitions. Believing in it sometimes has positive benefits, because of positive thoughts…having nothing to do with the thing itself.
Faith, on the other hand, when pertaining to our salvation, is faith in God based on knowledge we have up to a certain point, but then allows belief and hope to be extrapolated out based on the knowledge base and truth supporting that faith. The more knowledge you gain, the more faith you extrapolate. The more you stretch your faith, the more knowledge you can gain through personal experience.
While I agree that “step on the crack and break your mother’s back” is a form of superstition, to me it has little to do with religion, however.
My superstition is the way we use our relationship with God to explain away life events — trying to attach meaning to every experience as if it’s God’s hand working in our lives every step of the way. For example, I said in another thread that I got fired from a part-time job because I resigned from a related project this week. I thought this might be God punishing me for my decision to live a gospel standard differently than a traditional Mormon would. Or, a while ago, I got all these paid part-time jobs thrown my way. My wife thought it was because I was excelling at my HPGL calling and we were paying our tithing.
Years ago, we had a terrible experience with LDS Social services, and it hurt my testimony. I stopped paying my tithing as a result. Nothing bad happened. In fact, the job opportunities and pay raises kept coming. We attributed this to God showing mercy on us for what we’d endured at the hands of this Church-related LDS Social services, whose employees were replaced a year later, and from whom an apology was issued at the bidding of the new director.
This is what I mean by superstition and faith being the same thing….using God or some divine, surreal being to explain away things we can’t explain.
SilentDawning wrote:…Are faith and supersitition really the same thing?
…we label natives in deep Africa as superstitious because they attribute phenomena WE happen to understand to divine forces, such as “The God of Rain”, for example. But really, are we any different?
I guess it all depends on your perspective. To die-hard skeptics there probably isn’t that much of a difference between faith and superstition. However, many religious believers would be offended by this comparison because superstition has negative connotations as irrational beliefs that are popular mostly due to ignorance. The assumption is that superstition is a problem that can be cured by increasing knowledge and understanding. But some religious people are perfectly content to consider any evidence or scientific explanations available and just aren’t convinced that science and human understanding alone can really answer all of their questions.
In other words, superstition is a somewhat derogatory term but it seems like faith is still seen as mostly positive. In my case, I really like ghost stories almost even more than religion itself. Even many faithful Christians will say that this is superstition and folklore with no basis in reality but I’m not going to let that stop me from believing whatever makes the most sense to me. It’s easy for skeptics to dismiss this kind of thing as superstition when they often don’t know anyone that has ever experienced this first-hand. In fact, even if they did experience something like this themselves many skeptics still wouldn’t believe it because they’ve already made up their mind that spirits cannot exist no matter what.
I think faith, religion, and science are an elixer for the mind which must be finely balanced. I think that superstition and science call eachother the fool and religion their whipping boy. Faith and spirituality must blend if we are to have balance. It strikes me as more than coincidence that almost everyeverything worthwhile in life requires balance to make it so. Faith is the proven and tested mythology that makes my world work the way I expect. Superstition is the faith of someone else that seems silly and irrational because it doesn’t match my world. My “superior” nihilistic faith is that rain comes down for no particular reason at all. It is a random event of chemistry and heat transfer. It has no meaning, and I can’t even fathom the connection it has to my basic survival because I live in an artificial “bubble” controlled by machines, and my food magically appears in Wal-Mart, all wrapped in nice neat plastic packages. I don’t even know the names of my neighbors, but I have long conversations with people i’ve never met in person on the internet. I barely notice what the weather is, except for the few minutes I run between a building and my car.
The silly native has irrational superstitions that the rain-god blesses him with moisture, and keeps the cycles and wheels of life moving, and is thankful for this blessing. It makes perfect sense to this person though, because it is true.
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