THE BIGGER PICTURE: We often only think of "faith" in terms of specific religious beliefs. However, it is excellent as a much wider perspective. When we consider how much in the world we don't understand (even our elite experts can only explain a fraction of the complexities of the universe), faith seems natural, even a logical way to approach life.
Engineers struggle to make clear how bumblebees can lift their weight into the air, or ants can carry so many more times their bodyweight. Zoologists offer us no insight into how it is that ants can engage in such complex and respectful social systems, or pigs can have such strong emotional capabilities that they sense our intention to slaughter them.
Although people all over the world have reported "knowing" when someone they were deeply connected to was in danger, even if separated by hundreds of miles, psychologists have failed to explain it. And while we often ignore or dismiss all these incidences, they occur normally in our world.
Having faith is not only useful, it appears to be a wise perspective. What seems foolhardy is to believe we'd understand all the things around us, or worse yet, limit ourselves to the fraction that we do comprehend. We barely understand the powers within our own bodies and selves, let alone the workings of the universe.
Furthermore, it would be ridiculous to think that everything is explainable in the realm of what we see. Although we have been able to develop truly amazing instruments to observe and study things in greater and greater detail, it does not make sense to insist that all the processes of any given thing occur in a tangible way. So far our pre-occupation to see detail has done little to improve our insight.
In the absence of faith, we engage with an arrogance that limits and isolates us - neither being useful. We put ourselves forward as judge and jury for what is possible and what is not. We define ourselves and our world based on current limits rather than potential possibilities. We set ourselves up, not for development, but for stagnation. Rather than being intelligent, a lack of faith appears to be harmful.
Essential to growth and development is a willingness to learn. Essential to learning is a willingness to "not know", "not understand", and not have the "right answer". Quite opposite to a common arrogance, which marginalises us from what is truly possible, faith allows us an opportunity to be a humble student at the centre of the universe.
Our religions have traditionally connected the concept of "faith" with that of "submission". As a result, we have developed a myth that having faith is somehow in contradiction to a person's independent thinking. Furthermore, we can learn to feel resigned towards occurrences that seem overwhelming, but are in fact things we can prevent or change - like massive deaths by famine, war or flooding. Rather, real faith is an exercise of intelligence, requiring patience, empowerment, careful measure and genuine humility. With faith we can decide to do things differently.
A sense of humility is much more powerful than submission or specific knowledge. Despite how often we bear witness to displays of power - mostly in the forms of style, wealth or might - humility is much more powerful. Mahatma Gandhi is the ultimate example. Although a well-educated and potentially well-off lawyer, his deep commitment to a sense of self and justice brought an empire to its knees and mobilised a nation of hundreds of millions of people.
With all its power, humility is also an excellent development strategy for human beings. Without humility, we can take small amounts of information and pontificate, make grand gestures and believe we "know best". But, we cannot grow. We cannot become students of the universe. We cannot take the continuous position of staying quiet, listening, observing, asking questions, remaining curious, wanting to understand, watching with compassion and discovering how much we do not know.
The religions that profess that human beings should have dominion over other forms of life cannot have meant for us to control or conquer them, for such a perspective is against the growth and development of the human being.
More is accomplished through loving support than anything else. And this is probably the most difficult concept to explain, break down, make tangible and see.
There is quite a difference between accepting everything we are told and using our intelligence to notice what is worthwhile, pro-survival, encourages inherent connections and has positive effects - whether readily explainable or not.
Rather than hindering us from trusting our own thinking, faith appears to be quite a valid, intelligent perspective. While our humility can nurture a respect for life, it is our faith that nurtures our appreciation.
Shalini Sinha is an independent producer and journalist. She is a counsellor on equality issues and has lectured on women's studies in UCD - she co-presents RTÉ's intercultural programme Mono.