Have you ever lost faith in your humanity if only briefly?

[GrinningYMIR]

It doesn't even have to involve religion, but have you ever had a moment where something so shocking happened to you that you lost faith in your fellow mankind?

I've never been the most social guy in the world, I speak with an awkward deep voice that freaks people who don't know me out, and it tends not to carry the weight or emotion that words I type do. This being the case, I didn't have a lot of friends, instead opting for a close highly trusted group of friends that I could be myself around.

Among these two were my best friends, one male one female. We were particularly close, we three. Didn't do everything together but we hung out a lot, and we all had common ground, having similar goals in life and similar viewpoints on religion.

Eventually my female friend and I started dating, it didn't last long, but we pledged to be friends afterwards, and for a while we were. Then one night my male friend tells me he's going to see the new Star trek movie with his brother, it was a late showing so I fell asleep before he could send a text about what he thought of it. (I asked him too because I recommended the movie, I liked it a lot)

The next morning I checked my phone to see two texts, one from him one from her, ten minutes apart both saying the movie was amazing. They had gone together and lied to me about it.

I ended up confronting her when I found more evidence and she got angry, needless to say, I ended my friendship with both of them, people whom I trusted more than anyone else.

That was my moment, when I was suddenly shocked into the state of cynicism and distrust of new people that I have now. Say what you will about it, I was young, it was just a high school relationship blah blah blah, that's not the point.

the point is, have you ever had a moment involving something where you truly lost your faith in your fellow man if only briefly, or even permanently?

[Solitary]

Yes I have! I've only had one real friend in my life besides my wife and he moved away. And when I found out I couldn't trust my wife after 20 years of marriage I don't trust anyone anymore. Every single person I have been a friend with has been a friend in need is a friend indeed except the one that moved. Solitary

[Colanth]

the point is, have you ever had a moment involving something where you truly lost your faith in your fellow man if only briefly, or even permanently?

Lost my faith in the person who betrayed me?  I've led a relatively long life, and been betrayed more than once, so of course.

Allowed that to shake my faith in humanity as a whole?  No.

Of course, most people aren't worth trust or respect, but that doesn't ever make me believe that no one does.  There's a lot more mud in the world than there is clean white cloth - but there IS some clean white cloth, and no amount of mud will ever convince me otherwise.

[Minimalist]

Yes.  I still prefer dogs to humans.

[Hydra009]

the point is, have you ever had a moment involving something where you truly lost your faith in your fellow man if only briefly, or even permanently?

Near-permanently.  I'm working on being more trusting, but I've been burned so many times that dishonesty is the first thing I look for in people.  And I watch people far more carefully then I let on.

I've never been the most social guy in the world, I speak with an awkward deep voice that freaks people who don't know me out, and it tends not to carry the weight or emotion that words I type do. This being the case, I didn't have a lot of friends, instead opting for a close highly trusted group of friends that I could be myself around.

Same.  My default facial expression is something akin to scowling.  And a personality that can most accurately be described as cold and emotionally distant.  So yeah, not so great at the friends game.  But similarly, what few relationships I do have are highly valued.

[Hijiri Byakuren]

Yes.  I still prefer dogs to humans.

Replace dogs with cats and you have my view on this.

[Jason78]

Not sure I had any faith in humanity to begin with...

[SGOS]

Not sure I had any faith in humanity to begin with...

I don't have faith in humanity.  Good Grief!  Just look around and what do you see?  Sure there are intelligent caring people here and there, but they are mostly ignored by the masses, who are more ignorant than smart, more selfish than compassionate, ruled by their emotions, irrational, and easily manipulated by those in power.  Watch reruns of the Jerry Springer Show for a good look at mankind.  Read the user comments that follow Yahoo News articles.

Faith that he will do what exactly?  "Faith in humanity" is a feel good phrase that we parrot to ourselves to avoid appearing rational enough be appropriately cynical about our future.  I have no idea where mankind is going.  I would like to think he is destined for greatness as much as the next person, but logically I have to accept that this is a hope, rather than an observation of things as they are.

[Plu]

I have no faith in humanity as a whole, but I have very high faith in my ability to pinpoint the few people worth associating with.

And so far, that seems to be working out reasonably well. There are amazing people out there, and they are worth the risk of getting hurt. But you need a keen eye to pick them out from the masses. And you will be an outcast for associating with them, because nobody in the norm is worth your time.

[Icarus]

Every time I hear people misrepresenting and spreading misinformation about scientific facts they've never bothered to try to understand.... It's only reestablished when I see genuine acts of kindness, because they're so unexpected and rare.

[taikina]

celebrity big brother just started in finland, i'll try not to lose my faith in humanity(eg. staying away from tv, now of all times) but indirect contamination already swayed me a bit.

[Jmpty]

In general, people suck. Some don't, but mostly, they just plain suck.

[Youssuf Ramadan]

In general, people suck. Some don't, but mostly, they just plain suck.

This reminds me of the 'what do you do for a living' thread.  The biggest problem with most of the jobs I've had has been other people.  The work itself has been generally fine.

[the_antithesis]

No, but I have faith that people are assholes and they never disappoint.

[AllPurposeAtheist]

Isn't faith that magical word for believing in things there is no evidence that they exist? Humanity is what it is for better or worse. The word humanity doesn't imply neither good nor bad, just that humans exist and I don't need faith to know humans exist.