(July 18, 2012 at 2:07 pm)MysticKnight Wrote:(July 18, 2012 at 2:03 pm)Simon Moon Wrote: Which leads me to believe that your main reason for your belief is your fear of death.
I question what "motivates" me to want to know God exists. And this is certainly a factor. But it's not just my own death, it's the death of all life.
Therefore I know I have strong bias to believe in God. Having recognized that, I still can't get myself to believe that I don't know God exists.
I'm trying to be as honest to myself as I can. I realize that if I'm going to overcome bias, I have to have courage to face death of all life as a possibility. At the same time, I feel holding on to knowledge of God being a special type of spiritual knowledge, takes patience.
I can understand most of what you are saying here. You seem to be aware of and wary of the anthropological reasons for holding a belief in god ( fear of death, explanation for unknowns etc.). Also you feel that "holding on to knowledge of God" takes effort.
This sounds to me like someone on the deconversion curve who has thrown away the nuts and bolts of religion (virgin birth, miracles, talking donkeys, and whatever their equivalent in other religions.) as being implausible, so reverting to a sort of Pantheism, (God without the religion), then a struggle to get over the God shaped hole "I still can't get myself to believe that I don't know God exists".
Ask yourself what all atheists have - "Do I believe there is a supernatural god or gods"
Then get yourself a hobby.
Regards
Grimesy
Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful. — Edward Gibbon
