Why are you (still) a Christian?

[GrandizerII]

I expect a part of me wants Christians experiences and evidence to turn out to be weak and feeble so as to better justify my apostasy to myself.  I guess another part of me wants some truly outstanding, convincing evidence that God and the supernatural is real and give me hope that I too could have my prayers answered.  Another part of me just wants to talk out of curiosity.  Another part wants to mock out of bitterness. There's likely other more hidden motives in the mix too.  But all of that is a given and normal, I think.

Now that is some refreshing honesty.

[FrustratedFool]

Thank you. I try to be honest, consistent, civil, and careful as much as possible. I'm not always successful, but I find it a worthwhile aim in most circumstances.

[Bucky Ball]

The question is would you get your prayers answered at the same rate no matter who or what you prayed to? What's the hit/miss ratio? Is it statistically significant deviation from expected results if the occurrences were completey random?

It's actually even worse than that

https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2...20of%20God.

If I ever need heart surgery, I sure hope they don't pray for me.

[tackattack]

@gn and linuxgal - the list did happen. Not that it matters to either of u. Perhaps I mis-communicated. Let me rephrase, a holy God would not be threatened or intimidated as a feature of his character. A caring God could be swayed by compassion of a persons anguish. That is exactly what I meant by I can’t really threaten God. I can get angry, just like most of you have, at God. But that, from Gods perspective, isn’t threatening. Let’s not mince words though, whether I convince anyone that any of my experiences are real and the consistency of my belief is rational, you’d both just say it’s not really evidence you’d accept. We’ve crossed that bridge many miles back.

@FF well that all seems above board and honest. I can appreciate that.

I haven’t seen God grow back a limb or dismiss all suffering on the planet. I frequently have the same questions as to the POE. All I can trust are my experiences and results. I don’t know if it’s confirmation bias, statistical anomaly selection bias or anything else. From my perspective, it’s reliably consistent.

I’m not certain of how I could better critically self-analyze my experiences. Even if I , for arguments sake, took a few weeks to pray to shiva instead. I wouldn’t actually hold that belief. Blessings could still be granted to me even though I didn’t ask for them out loud. How would I determine whether they were from God, Shiva, or neither?

[Bucky Ball]

@gn and linuxgal - the list did happen. Not that it matters to either of u. Perhaps I mis-communicated. Let me rephrase, a holy God would not be threatened or intimidated as a feature of his character. A caring God could be swayed by compassion of a persons anguish. That is exactly what I meant by I can’t really threaten God. I can get angry, just like most of you have, at God. But that, from Gods perspective, isn’t threatening. Let’s not mince words though, whether I convince anyone that any of my experiences are real and the consistency of my belief is rational, you’d both just say it’s not really evidence you’d accept. We’ve crossed that bridge many miles back.

@FF well that all seems above board and honest. I can appreciate that.

I haven’t seen God grow back a limb or dismiss all suffering on the planet. I frequently have the same questions as to the POE. All I can trust are my experiences and results. I don’t know if it’s confirmation bias, statistical anomaly selection bias or anything else. From my perspective, it’s reliably consistent.

I’m not certain of how I could better critically self-analyze my experiences. Even if I , for arguments sake, took a few weeks to pray to shiva instead. I wouldn’t actually hold that belief.  Blessings could still be granted to me even though I didn’t ask for them out loud. How would I determine whether they were from God, Shiva, or neither?

A caring god who can be "swayed" is not omniscient. He would have know what was going to happen. 
A god that is "swayed" is not eternal, (timeless). 
You really have no clue what a god thinks, "perspective", just as St. Paul told you. (:unfathomable"). 
Your brain activity concerning the gods is nothing but your immagination. 
More people than in your hallucinations believe in Allah.