Show me your proof

[Tonus]

I just want to see what proof you have for or against God. Not intending to turn this into a nasty debate, I just want to hear what you all have to say about the subject of the God that I believe in, from every religious view. If you would be so kind!

I don't have proof for god, nor against him. I was raised a Christian and followed it loyally for many years, but in the end I think that needing to shape god to fit the evidence simply made it feel as if I was excusing him for never showing up. The rationalizations I used felt like just that; I wasn't explaining why others couldn't find god, I was trying to explain why I couldn't. And that eroded my faith.

I see people doing that now and I remember my own efforts to explain why god doesn't make his existence evident to us in as clear a manner as possible. I remember thinking that few people ever bothered to search for god the right way or must have failed to fulfill some minor requirement or just didn't really want to find him. Those were all very condescending and rude ways to look at it, but the only other option was to admit that they'd made an honest effort and found nothing. And then I realized that I had also made an honest effort and found nothing. Which is why I just smile sadly when someone gives me some version of 'you didn't do it right.'

I think that a god that cares as much as his followers believe he does --as I believed he did-- would make his existence obvious. Instead, I was taught that he made us capable of great feats of intellect and reason, but only rewards those who abandon intellect and reason for emotion and intuition. He seemed so crude and petty, and that was incomprehensible. When I began to read about how ancient people created and shaped their gods, the god of the Bible began to make a lot more sense. Much more sense than the one I tried to pretend was real.