It’s not supposed to be a religion, but it depends on the definition. After a couple thousand years, a lot of Buddhists treat it as such. There are cultural aspects as well.
As for faith, it has its place in Buddhism, though not necessarily the way we understand the word. It’s more of a humility and willingness thing, or perhaps commitment. Faith is used along with doubt and effort when hunting the Truth. I found this observation useful:
"Great Faith and Great Doubt are two ends of a spiritual walking stick. We grip one end with the grasp given to us by our Great Determination. We poke into the underbrush in the dark on our spiritual journey. This act is real spiritual practice -- gripping the Faith end and poking ahead with the Doubt end of the stick. If we have no Faith, we have no Doubt. If we have no Determination, we never pick up the stick in the first place."
When you are seeking truth, there are a lot of other things that can jump up and bite you, hence the pointy stick. Seems to me some great Christians have used this to advantage.
“…Are you saying that absence of belief constitutes a belief by itself…”
IMHO, it can happen if you aren’t careful. Buddhism avoids extremes, hence the “Middle Path”.
As for Tibetan Buddhism, all I've forgotten is what Prof. Denny Hopkins taught me in his class at UVA circa 1973. I really enjoyed that class. I see he's published 39 books since then. If anyone knows him, ask him if he remembers the kid that was rubber-stamping "DOES NOT INHERENTLY EXIST" above the urinals.
DISCLAIMER: The foregoing are the ramblings of a lousy Buddhist of 30 years. If my writing doesn't make sense, blame it on 11 years of education in a Catholic school, LOL.
Great post all around! That statement is very good and I haven't heard an explanation like that. My teacher simply said to me "Faith, in (the sense meant in) Buddhism, is confidence in (the truth of) your experience." (as a result of practice)
LOL... I also went to Catholic School.. How funny... thanks for sharing