God is a lie created by the church and followed by politicians in order to control the masses. Sometimes I feel something but how do I know if it's God or a bunch of demons slapping me in the back of the head when I'm meditating. I'm also pretty sure God isn't gonna come when I'm calling for demons unless God sends them because he is everything.

I believe that belief in invisible, unprovable thingies is a side effect of the evolution of the human brain. I has to do with telling, and often believing, stories that are not strictly true. You believe in lots of religious-like absurd things, like all people being created equal (obviously not true sociologically, psychologically, or physiologically), or that people are innocent until proven guilty (yet prosecutors prosecute cases they expect to win). You can probably find patterns in random star fields, and meaningful shapes in randomly shaped clouds. Believing in fairies, nature spirits, jinn, gods, or The God, are probably all variations on the theme, "where there is no meaning, there put meaning, and there there will be meaning." Believing in superstitious thingies is first nature to most humans (and for those who are not naturally prone to superstitious belief it is more likely a disability than a gift). On the other hand, for the more unsubstantiated beliefs, such as beliefs in gods or The God, doubt is just as common a companion for many as easy faith. For most people, being intentionally critical or skeptical requires constant work, particularly if it is to go beyond mere questioning of spirituality, ghosts, fairies, jinn, gods, or God. What would happen to the fabric of human societies if critical skepticism were to become so widespread that foundational cultural fictions were thoroughly and systematically questioned.

You're supposed to have faith, and faith isn't rational. It's the ultimate leap. God wants your love but not if it's compelled (free will) or easily given (faith). God only wants your love if you're flinging it blindly through time and space toward an unseen, unfelt target. Like the most unhealthy stalker obsession.

Doesn't make sense to me either.

there is no discussion here, as i won't/can't argue with your valid observation. as far as i can sense it, belief/faith is born out of fear, like hope.

there's probably a dissertation in there, or two.

Well put. I’ve wondered the same. And, with all the deeply devout religion followers, how can they all feel so confident ‘theirs’ is correct. I guess they don’t, so they bully, coerce and instill fear in others in order to ‘convince them’ to side with them … cause might makes right!

And if ‘totally believing,’ just giving yourself completely to some religion is the answer, why is life no different for these people than anyone else? Why aren’t they cured of their physical ails, their fears & phobias or their financial burdens and the hardships of life..? If one group or religion were right, wouldn’t it quickly become obvious to all? Wouldn’t these supposed angels be whispering the same thing if they were coming from the same place? …though I’ve never seen any..

It’s such total bullshit - it’s terrifying! -- to the extent it’s even a consideration of modern humans … let alone how many..

An all-powerful, omnipotent god would know exactly what it would take for me to believe in it's existence and if it loved me and wanted me to spend eternity with it, it would do what ever it takes to make that happen.

It's nothing but made up stories. Any sane person should be able to walk down the wings of a childrens hospital and see the many kinds of diseases/ailments the patients suffer from and know that it all has to be a bunch of BS. On another note, if you think about the vastness of the universe, is it hard or even impossible for you to rationalize in your mind if there is an end to it or what is out there on the edges. I've always found that intriguing to not be able to rationalize it.

You just need ya some temporal lobe epilepsy.

read david hume.

I like this post.