I would believe in God if...

[Joods]

To answer the OP:

There is nothing that would cause me to back to that brainwashed way of thinking. Tried it before and it did nothing. That's why I'm now part of the smart gene pool.

[GrandizerII]

Suppose God is the omnimax Creator type that Jews, Christians, Muslims, and deists typically believe in.

What would make me lean strongly towards his existence is if he did something so amazing that not even a many worlds interpretation could adequately account for it (or if it could, it would be far more plausible that something "supernatural" occurred rather than natural). Example: Clearly visible words magically appearing on the wall behind the computer screen saying exactly what I'm thinking ... right .. now!

Nope, nothing. Not even a voice calling my name.

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I ask this question, because for me, I still want to believe in a God, even though I don't. It just baffles me to think that everything just goes back to some form of cosmic luck.

My view is that this all goes back to some form of cosmic necessity rather than luck. Consider the possibility that we may be in a multiverse of some sort. Aside from what science may perhaps reveal, there is no philosophical reason to think that anything in this cosmos is unnecessarily occurring. We exist here and now perhaps because we are inevitable expressions of the necessary existence in the here and now.

[Nanny]

We exist because we're the expression of existence?

Anthrocentric. We may be the only species we know of that can perceive the universe, but it's clear that not every member of our species has this luxury (one is unlikely to be pondering the cosmos while dodging shelling in Syria, for example), and it's obvious that the universe exists whether we are around to perceive it or not. It existed before humans, it will exist after.

Unnecessary occurrence vs cosmic luck - actions have causes and actions have consequences/results. Two chunks of rock collide in space, one of them gets influenced by gravity that alters its trajectory. A planet-smashing asteroid is born. Bad luck for us but a necessary result of the occurrence of two rocks colliding.

[GrandizerII]

Anthrocentric. We may be the only species we know of that can perceive the universe, but it's clear that not every member of our species has this luxury (one is unlikely to be pondering the cosmos while dodging shelling in Syria, for example), and it's obvious that the universe exists whether we are around to perceive it or not. It existed before humans, it will exist after.

How are you defining "perceive" here? Pondering isn't typically what people mean by perceiving/observing, methinks.

And, sure, as an insider within this cosmos and assuming the flow of time, the universe did exist long before we human beings started to exist. But if we consider the B-theory of time rather than the A-theory of time, it's more complicated than that. From what I understand, given the B-theory of time (or eternalism), there is not really a temporal "before" or "after".

[Nanny]

Good point. I may not be pondering my place in the universe while dodging shells but i am acutely aware of the physics involved! Poor choice of words on my part.

Simultaneity is a difficult concept for my small mind to grasp. I've learned to view time in the linear terms that my reading of history and my own experiences facilitates. I see time through the lens of my own short existence. that is my yardstick. If I were more well read I could train my brain to think in terms of the dimension and depth of time. Haven't gotten there yet.

[Jeanne]

Hello all.

I would believe if every human being simultaneously received God's voice and acceptance/blessing at the same time and immediately all dissonance would halt and each human could understand every other human's language and all KNEW that this was the One True Creator that made us all as brothers and sisters.  

Or...I might believe instead that contrails infected the population with hallucinogens, which somehow contained Babble Fish embryo.

At any rate; it would take an awful lot for me to believe.

-Jeanne