What does faith mean to you?
Welcome to Brothers and Sisters, the weekly meetup for prayer* and community at Daily Kos. We put an asterisk on pray* to acknowledge that not everyone uses conventional religious language, but may want to share joys and concerns, or simply take solace in a meditative atmosphere. Anyone who comes in the spirit of mutual respect, warmth and healing is welcome.
FAITH is one of those really loaded little words... it can convey lots of meaning... or mean absolutely nothing depending on the intent. It can be used for good... or for bad.
People have (and continue to) use faith to justify excluding anyone they see as "other"... anyone who doesn't make the cut for some moving target of "worthy". It has been used to justify slavery, discrimination of many groups of people, and even murder.
Faith has also been used to propel people towards good..
Martin Luther King was most certainly a man of faith, and his use of faith helped push this nation in the right direction.
He said of the work ahead in civil rights and why he believed that "Faith is taking the first step, even if you don't see the whole staircase."
The religion Dr. King based his faith on was Christianity.
Many others base their faith in Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, nature, ancient traditions, or in humanity itself.
Lots of emotions and motives get wrapped up in this tiny word. What does it mean to you?