If you were ever a theist...

[Cephus]

The reason why I questioned you earlier in the thread, is because, if you found a good reason to return to your theistic beliefs, I want to know about it. It wasn't to put you in a tough spot, it was to discover if your beliefs were rational and evidence based enough for me to also believe them.

As I previously stated, I am passionate about having as many true beliefs as possible, and as few false beliefs. If you have, what I would consider good reasons, as far as I can tell, you wouldn't need faith. 

My main reason to continue to participate in these discussions, is to determine if there is some belief that I don't currently hold, that I should.

I just wish someone could tell me why a god would want people to believe on bad evidence, despite all the good evidence to the contrary.

I know Simon, I do. The challenge with atheism, is that it expects certainty and factual evidence...which a believer who has had an experience could convey, but not in a way that can be tried and tested and satisfying to a non-believer. You know? So, you know what various religions teach, you know certainly what Christianity teaches...and yet you don't believe it. I was this same exact way, I just let it all go, and no longer cared about it. You could say when you're alone...whenever...''God, if you exist...reveal yourself to me in some way.'' And if/when He does, hopefully you will understand what I'm feeling now. I believe that reading stories of the past (the Bible) isn't enough...it requires one to have an experience of faith...or to continually experience their faith, and that be something as simple as a joy that is hard to explain. I think of Christians who are bigots, and such and it would seem to me that their faith resides in a book...and faith is a lot more than that, to me now.

There is something very sweet about your wording here. ''Sweet'' lol I can't think of a better word right now, but your post is endearing. When you say 'if there is some belief that I don't currently hold, that I should.' It's interesting to me, to talk with someone who desires to know as much as he can.

Because the experience isn't the important part, it's how you verified the experience.  Lots of people have "experiences" that they completely and totally misidentify. They think things are happening that are not happening at all.  All religious experiences have the same thing in common, bald assertions about the cause of events that the experiencer cannot verify or validate.  That makes them questionable at best.  People get far too emotionally attached to what they want to happen and not very intellectually interested in what actually happens.