I am still running Java for several years without problems. If you are using Firefox it could be a good idea to shield it using Noscript, Adblock plus, ghostery and so on. And ditto for Chrome (Scriptno, adblock plus, ghostery). I haven't run into any issues for years. I keep Java updated too of course.
On the other hand, if you are pretty sure you don't need Java, just uninstall it (JavaRa might be needed to do a proper clean uninstallation).