Bible Study: The God who Lies and Deceives

[Smaug]

...meaning you get the truth, and not just the crap the church wants to spew from the pulpits on sunday... isn't that the point of this forum?

Well, to certain extent I did get the truth and it is good. You're one of the very few believers who are honest about it.

So the God of the Bible is like that. But it doesn't take away the ever present question. What makes him real for you? How is he more real than, say, the spirits the Chinese believe in? Or the Hindu gods? I know it's beating the dead horse but still.

To me God (and gods) is either a sweet delusion that people want to have to deal with the brutality of life and their insecurities or a tool in the hands of all sorts of manipulators. The former is okey but one has to be always carefull not to let their delusions lead them into a trap (same goes to all the irrational beliefs). The Church may make one comfortable but it's a dangerous deal that may come at a price of becoming a milking cow and a tool without even knowing it. Same goes with many secular ideologies. You have to be very carefull with what you sign up to.