Faith is in general the persuasion of the mind that a certain statement is true. It is the belief and the assent of the mind to the truth of what is declared, based on the declarer's authority and truthfulness. (Admittedly quoted from wikipedia, but it serves my purpose).
The sad part about religion is that the bible was written by man..... Unquestionably, undoubtedly.... So.... The real question is.... Do you have faith in the man that wrote the story book thats based off of countless religions before it as being the correct assessment of religion?
What makes that 2000+ year old man/men more correct than the man that started this whole debate thread? (Stephen Hawking). Just because a book is over 2000 years old doesnt make it factual as Christians (or any other religion with any other book) would like to believe it is.
I've used this before in my following arguement and still have not recieved a thoughfull answer....
Lets say we are 100 to 1000 years in the future (take your pick, doesnt matter)... Mankind has been decimated and only a few thousand humans survive in the entire world.... A few hundred years later (after whatever cataclysm struck) a human finds an old book of "Harry Potter".... They inturprit it as a "bible".... Are they wrong in doing so?
Take that same analogy and apply it to today... What about the Aboriginies in Australia or the countless undiscovered tribes in South Africa and South America? Are they damned as well because they have no concept of your religion?
Im not defending Hawking.... I think he is overratted as a scientist and is a quack looking for attention at this point. He wants to be remembered as the Einstein of our age so he spews whatever he can to attain that goal.
That doesnt change the fact that his theories have revolutionized and advanced our thinking of the universe from what it was even just 10 years ago.
All I ask is, set aside your faith for a few minutes and really contemplate what religion really means outside of your little circle of belief.... Question it... Really.... What does happen to those people that dont find your particular belief??? Do you label them evil because the "word" of your sermon hasnt reached them? Are they automatically condemned because they are ignorant to the supposed "fact" of your own God even though they live a harmonious life thats closer to the earth than you will ever be?
Sorry, if you are honest with yourself, you will see that religion is nothing more than an orginization, not much better than any government, thats veying for power over people. The promise of an afterlife or continuation after death is a powerfull tool when it comes to getting paid.