@ Bird123
Note: My new responses are in blue.
My quote: God cares that some people believe in Him but God does not need anyone to believe in Him.
Your Answer: Why does God care that some people believe in Him? What purpose does it serve??
What I meant is that God cares if some people believe that He exists. That does not serve any purpose for God, but it serves a purpose for those people who believe God exists.
My quote: Religion has to have some followers, yes, but followers are not what makes religion what it is.
Your Answer: Followers are what makes religion what it is. If you really knew God, this would be clear.
Nobody can know God without going through a religion because that is how God makes Himself known. God also makes Himself known through His Creation, but since Creation can be interpreted in many ways, that is not a reliable way of knowing about God.
My quote: God does not have an ego, so no, that is not going to happen.
Your Answer: How can you agree in one breath that God does not care about having followers then in the next breath say God cares that some people believe in Him? You are not adding up.
God cares not for Himself but rather for the people who believe in Him (see above).
Your Answer: Further, if God cares that some people believe in Him, why not everyone? How is that choice made? Once again, it does not add up.
God knows that everyone is not going to believe in Him, at least not right now, so God cares that at least some people believe in Him rather than nobody. Although God would prefer it if everyone believed in Him that has to be a freely made choice, since God never forces people to believe in Him.
My quote: Religions view of God is too vague as all religions are not the same.
Your Answer: If religion's view is vague, religion does not clearly see Who God really is. Can Vague knowledge really be enough? Further, if religion's view is lacking, why does not religion attempt to Discover more? Could they assume they know it all?
Previously you said: Maybe instead of accepting blindly, one should question religion's view of God in order to Discover what does not add up, like the believer question.
I did not mean that religion's view is vague; I meant that it is too vague to say “religions view of God” because all religions have different views of God.
Religion’s view of God is not vague. Religion is the closest approximation we can have to knowing who God is.
Religion does not know anything; we know about God through religion. Religion cannot Discover anything. Religion is the Revelation vouchsafed unto humanity by God through the Messengers (Prophets) God sends.
“And now concerning thy question regarding the nature of religion. Know thou that they who are truly wise have likened the world unto the human temple. As the body of man needeth a garment to clothe it, so the body of mankind must needs be adorned with the mantle of justice and wisdom. Its robe is the Revelation vouchsafed unto it by God. Whenever this robe hath fulfilled its purpose, the Almighty will assuredly renew it. For every age requireth a fresh measure of the light of God. Every Divine Revelation hath been sent down in a manner that befitted the circumstances of the age in which it hath appeared.”
Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 81
Nobody knows everything except God who is All-Knowing. God reveals what humans need to know and are able to understand incrementally throughout the ages. Humans will never know everything but we will know more in every new age, since every new Messenger reveals more Truth.
My quote: It could be that they know that religion is the way that God is revealed even if it is imperfect since men tamper with it and change it over time.
Your Answer: They are making assumptions that God is revealing Himself through religion, when, in reality, nothing is further from the truth. If you study God's actions, God does reveal knowledge this way. Mankind does. Mankind also counts mere beliefs as truth or fact.
Religions are not revealed by mankind, they are revealed by Messengers of God who are an order of Creation above any ordinary human. They reveal Truth and believers believe it if they are smart, because the Messengers know more than any ordinary human could ever know since they have innate knowledge as well as direct Revelation from God.
My quote: Only without religion there is no way anyone can know anything about God in order to add it up.
Your Answer: This assumption will keep you dependent of religion. You will also be limiting yourself to a box of Beliefs. Isn't God more than a Box of Beliefs?
Religion is not a Box of Beliefs. It is the Truth from God vouchsafed by God to humanity. God is more than what we can know from the Messengers but we cannot know anything about God any other way.
Your quote: In this time-based causal universe, God's actions can be seen just like your and my actions can be seen.
The problem with that is a logical one: You cannot ever know what actions are attributable to God and what actions are attributable to human free will choices.
Your quote: When one studies and understands the actions of another, one knows so much more about that person than the words and beliefs of others.
That is true but we cannot always know another person by their actions since actions can be misleading because they can be faked.
Your quote: This is what I am seeing. I also see the limits you place on yourself trapped within your walls of beliefs. Yes, indeed, it's a lesson for us all for when one chooses a narrow view there is so much that one does not see. On the other hand, some find comfort within the walls of beliefs for True Discovery takes work.
What you think you are seeing is not what is going on with me. I am not trapped at all, I am a free spirit. Religion does not trap anyone; it instructs us and gives us choices. There is nothing narrow about what my religion teaches.
Religion does not prevent True Discovery from taking place, it guides us on the path to Discovery.
Your quote: Yes, this is what I am seeing and it's clear.
What I see is that what you see is *colored* by your own bias against religion. As such, there is no way you can see clearly. Nobody can ever see clearly when they have a strong bias.