Why do you believe in a God?

[Confused Ape]

Placed side by side, many of the ideas bear surprising similarities to one another; they believe in a realm of the dead, some sort of soul/presence and the unifying power of a divinity(s) or holy spirit(s).

Anomalous Experiences

Anomalous experiences, such as so-called benign hallucinations, may occur in a person in a state of good mental and physical health, even in the apparent absence of a transient trigger factor such as fatigue, intoxication or sensory deprivation.

It is now widely recognized that hallucinatory experiences are not merely the prerogative of those suffering from mental illness, or normal people in abnormal states, but that they occur spontaneously in a significant proportion of the normal population, when in good health and not undergoing particular stress or other abnormal circumstance.

The experiences include apparitions -

A common type of anomalous experience is the apparitional experience, which may be defined as one in which a subject seems to perceive some person or thing that is not physically present. Self-selected samples tend to report a predominance of human figures, but apparitions of animals,[4] and even objects[5] are also reported. Notably, the majority of the human figures reported in such samples are not recognised by the subject, and of those who are, not all are of deceased persons; apparitions of living persons have also been reported.[6]]

There's also -

The experience of sensing the presence of a deceased loved one is a commonly reported phenomenon in bereavement. It can take the form of a clearly sensory impression or can involve a quasi-sensory 'feeling' of presence.[30] conducted a study of 293 widowed people living in a particular area of mid-Wales. He found that 14% of those interviewed reported having had a visual hallucination of their deceased spouse, 13.3% an auditory one and 2.7% a tactile one. These categories overlapped to some extent as some people reported a hallucinatory experience in more than one modality. Of interest in light of the previous heading was the fact that 46.7% of the sample reported experiencing the presence of the deceased spouse. Other studies have similarly reported a frequency of approximately 50% in the bereaved population.[31][32]

Sensing the presence of the deceased may be a cross-cultural phenomenon that is, however, interpreted differently depending on the cultural context in which it occurs.[33] For example, one of the earliest studies of the phenomenon published in a Western peer-reviewed journal investigated the grief experiences of Japanese widows and found that 90% of them reported to have sensed the deceased.[34] It was observed that, in contrast to Western interpretations, the widows were not concerned about their sanity and made sense of the experience in religious terms.

I've got the kind of brain that produces these experiences and they feel very real at the time. The human brain would have been producing these experiences ever since humans appeared on the scene so it's hardly surprising that all cultures have similar ideas about such things.

If I tell you I experience God and you choose not to believe me that's okay, but it doesn't invalidate my experience. It just means that you don't believe me. I can't stop believing in God because he has revealed himself to me.

I believe you when you say that you've had an experience which you interpreted as God revealing himself to you. I've had experiences which I could have interpreted as deities revealing themselves to me although I didn't interpret them this way.

Some years ago I had a dream about Apollo - he was an awesome presence and, in the dream, I knew he was a god. Then there's an experience I had which I reported in a topic I made on May 1st.

Today is May Day so I switched over to "New Age Perception". It's like I'm aware of the planet as a living entity. I also have an inner image of the Venus of Willendorf. This is just one of several Venus Figurines from the Upper Paleolithic period. Nobody knows what the figururines meant to the people who made them but modern Goddess worshippers have adopted the Willendorf figure as a symbol of the Great Mother Goddess. My unconscious mind decided to use it as well. It's not something I'd have consciously chosen, however, because I think it's grotesque.

I had a related experience when I visited the Anglican Shrine Of Our Lady Of Walsingham. When I was in the Church and Holy House I was aware of a powerful female presence but she was far older than Christianity.

If, for some bizarre reason, my brain produced similar experiences involving the Christian God or Jesus I'd treat them the same as the experiences I had of Apollo and The Goddess.

[vodkafan]

I'm a Muslim and I don't believe in God, because Allah is not God. . but I do believe there is a Creator and I have no idea what it is all about. My brain is quite small to understand the Creator. However, basically because. . .

1. Because no one can prove the Creator doesn't exists when there is abundance of evidence relating to the existence of supernatural higher intelligence.

2. Because no one can prove at least one thing from the whole universe existed out of nothing, and when everything is subjected to the laws of cause and effect.

3. Because no one can prove that they exists (quatum physics), so maybe we are the one who is not really existed.

4. Because I have nothing to lose. If there is no God, then it is fine. I died and there is no issue. But if there is God, I have followed the rules. Besides, the rules is not so bad.

5. Because it is fun, and God don't ask me to believe in Him, hell, paradise, sin, reward etc. This is the minimum requirement to be a Muslim. He just ask me to be concerned with the practical aspect of life.

It is just my opinion.

Hi muslimatheist, sorry I don't know how to do the multpost thing and break up your post.
I want to argue with point 1: what, then is the "abundant evidence" for a "supernatural intelligence" ?

point 2: The universe may well have come out of nothing. Or it may not. The truth is, we don't know yet. But why is that an argument for god?

point 3: Irrelevant. You are here, I am here . We can only go on what we see and think and feel.

Point 4: it sounds like you are continuing to follow religious rules. Why? Camouflage so as not to stand out? Or to hedge your bets just in case? Then you are not honest with yourself and others and that deceit and lack of integrity will eat you up. And I disagree that the rules are not so hard
. If I believe there is no god then to follow rules like praying five times a day , being righteous in front of others and having part of my cock cut off is too hard.

point 5: Where is the fun in living a lie to other's rules? Ask a muslim woman how much fun it is. She will be too afraid to answer honestly.

[Lek]

Rational people base claims on testable evidence. Not personal testimony. If I gave you personal testimony of something you found unbelievable, and told you it was true, wouldn't you ask for evidence?

I probably would, but if I disagreed with the evidence I wouldn't call you deluded. I might respectfully say I disagree with you. If 9 out of 10 people from different parts of the world tell you they saw the same thing would you tend to believe them or at least seriously consider that they saw it?

[Silver]

If 9 out of 10 people from different parts of the world tell you they saw the same thing would you tend to believe them or at least seriously consider that they saw it?

Not at all.

It is referred to as mass delusion.

[Lek]

I think that we should be open to scientific discovery as well as the testimonies of the experience of people since the beginning of recorded history. If the overwhelming majority of people have believed in God, I would put a lot of weight on that.

[Ravenshire]

Of course, there will never will be because science automatically rejects the explanations present because of science's limitations.

You know, it's not science's limitations that are the problem.

[Silver]

If the overwhelming majority of people have believed in God, I would put a lot of weight on that.

That is fallacious thinking. It is referred to as argumentum ad populem.

[Lek]

Of course, there will never will be because science automatically rejects the explanations present because of science's limitations.

You know, it's not science's limitations that are the problem.

Science is limited because it is only able to consider the natural phenomenon, therefore anything outside of the natural realm is irrelevant to a scientist. The scientis just isn't equipped to deal with the study of the supernatural.

[Ravenshire]

I think that we should be open to scientific discovery as well as the testimonies of the experience of people since the beginning of recorded history.

First, personal testimony is worthless because there's no way to test it's veracity.

Second, there's no way in hell you would be open to personal testimony of Zeus, Odin, Thor or any god other than your gawd.

If the overwhelming majority of people have believed in God, I would put a lot of weight on that.

Of course you would (as long as it's your gawd). It's called confirmation bias.

---

You know, it's not science's limitations that are the problem.

Science is limited because it is only able to consider the natural order, therefore anything outside of the natural realm is irrelevant to a scientist.

There is nothing outside the "natural realm." The universe is inclusive of all that exists. If your gawd exists, it's part of the universe and therefore part of the "natural realm."

Thanks for playing.

[Lek]

First, personal testimony is worthless because there's no way to test it's veracity.

That doesn't make it worthless. I believe many things other people tell me because I have confidence in the person telling me.

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Second, there's no way in hell you would be open to personal testimony of Zeus, Odin, Thor or any god other than your gawd.

I see this as testimony that they recognized God's existence.

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There is nothing outside the "natural realm." The universe is inclusive of all that exists. If your gawd exists, it's part of the universe and therefore part of the "natural realm."

Thanks for playing.

No. The supernatural is outside of the natural realm. How do you know that there is nothing outside of the natural realm? You don't even know everything that is within the natural realm. Does the universe go on infinitely?