What is the Point of Believing in God Without Religion?

[The Grand Nudger]

A case example presents itself........

[vorlon13]

Like the religions about Jesus vs the religion of Jesus ?

[Gawdzilla Sama]

We have these people going around talking about they believe in god but not organized religion. What's the point? If god merely exists but is unable or unwilling to play a part in human affairs what difference does it make if we believe in him or not? Mere belief without a call to action has no virtue.

It means they have even less to do with regard to religion. No books to read, no "good deeds" done in "God's" name, no services to attend, no tithes to pay. 

One step from me. 

[The Grand Nudger]

IDK, I don;t think it means that at all, it just became a popular talking point for the organized religious a few years back. My father in law started in on that schtick when it was all over AM radio. He "believes in god but not religion" now, if you ask....doesn't mean he doesn't go to the same church every saturday and tithe 20% of his gross.......

[Rhizomorph13]

Back in the day when I was religious I went through that period of, God without religion, before binning the whole idea of God. For me I saw the Bible and all the other books of faith, I quickly looked through, as a signpost towards the "REAL" God. I was taught that through the Holy Spirit we could know God so I took that to the logical conclusion that I didn't need any help; I can just plug right into the G to get the straight dope!

Anyway it is a GREAT way to just make shit up and support it with good feelings and wooey bullshit. You might as well sew your lips to your own asshole for all the good it does.

Yay! So that is why I worship Atheos or the Invisible Pink Unicorn and sometimes the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

[Rhondazvous]

Some people are just too uncomfortable not having answers for the big questions.

So, whenever they run up against something that humans do not currently have a REAL explanation for, they get to insert their god.

They get to put a check in the "explained" box in their minds, and revel in their sense of relief.

But of course, they are fooling themselves, as it really doesn't answer the question, it just sort of sweeps it under the rug.

This is the gap theory without the hassle. So what happens when they have their cake and eat it too?

---

A case example presents itself........

He may not be there when you want him, but he's always on time

[Angrboda]

[ignoramus]

Well, it doesn;t really matter how many people who believe in god without all of the other shit think of it as deism, that;s just what it is.  When you add the trappings of the other shit it ceases to be deism, deists don't have a divine safety valve (as that would be intercession, intervention).  

For most people, the statement "I believe in god but not organized religion" can be translated to "I believe in the god of organized religion but distance myself from other adherents of the same for reasons™".  That's a stranger thing not to realize, for them, imo.  Cultural acclimitization, maybe, ignorance, a failure of imagination...for whatever reason, to those people, the term god only refers to one tiny little thing....and it;s exactly the same thing they object to in the next breath.

Does that make deists more gullible or less?
Between religion and god, I know which one's real.
Religion is based on a scam, so deists go direct to the scam and bypass the middleman.
It's a bit like me losing at the casino most times... Why bother going, I may as well just send them a check once a month! Lol.

[Minimalist]

Some people are just too uncomfortable not having answers for the big questions.

Yes.....the invisible sky daddy lets them pretend to have answers.

[Astonished]

As long as they don't expect me to respect them any more than I do the Westboro Baptists, the Taliban or that church two doors down from where I live that creates a significant traffic hazard for me when I try to bike through that intersection on weekends, they can call themselves whatever the fuck they want.

If you can't defend your reason for believing in what you do any better than anyone else with an irrational system of belief, really, you're no different. They may have gotten 2+2 = 5 instead of 2+2=11 like some of the fundamentalists, but they're still wrong.