Why do people believe in God?

[ShazzieB]

27. Thanks for this!

I started trying to write a response to this last night, but just couldn't do it. I am VERY uncomfortable even admitting I believe in the existence of a supreme being at DU even though I don't belong to any organized religion at this point and my definition of "God" is probably pretty unconventional.

It's very ironic to me that although the TOS here says "no divisive group attacks," non atheists are one group who are in fact considered fair game for insults and attacks by many here. I don't mean directly attacking individuals for their beliefs. I don't think I've actually seen that here, but I have seen many, many disparaging comments about God, religion in general, and Christianity, in particular (not just certain forms of it, but Christianity as a whole, as if ALL denominations are exactly the same and All Christians are homophobes, transphobes, racists, and misogynistic, when in fact nothing could be farther from the truth).

I don’t have anything against atheists; I like atheists on the whole and actually agree with them about a lot of things. I wish they would consider the fact that when they post those kinds of harsh insults at DU, they are in fact insulting many of their fellow DUers. It only takes a few people posting about how "stupid" it is to believe in a "sky daddy" to make people feel that it's not safe to admit to possessing any kind of religious beliefs or finding meaning in some sort of religious practice here at DU.

The fact is, I don't know why the hell I believe there is a God, I just DO. I don't know how to NOT believe there is something "out there." It feels like it's just wired into my being somehow. It's fascinating to me to read about how some people grew up being taken to religious services like I was but never felt any kind of connection with it. It was exactly the opposite for me. I LOVED going to church, and I believed in all of it, whole-heartedly.

By the time I was in my teens, I hsd started to question certain teachings, particularly the one that said everyone who didn't believe exactly as my church said they should was going to burn in hell for all eternity. Because of things like that, I eventually left the denomination I grew up in, But I never stopped finding meaning in religion. One particular church getting some things wrong didn't ruin the whole thing for me.

There's a scene in Roots, when newborn Kunta Kinte's father holds him up to the sky and says, "Behold the only thing greater than yourself!" That's how I feel: that there is something in the universe greater than myself, something that I feel a connection to. Different people define that something in different ways, some of which I don't agree with, and that's fine with me. Some don't believe in it at all, and that's fine with me, too. I have absolutely no idea why some of us feel that connection to something greater than ourselves and some don't, but I certainly don't believe those who feel that connection are superior to those who don't in ANY way. I am respectful of everyone else's beliefs or lack thereof, and I wish for the same thing in return. I don't think that's unreasonable.