Why do you believe?

[YmirGF]

I've been on RF for a good many years now and have often been entertained by people as they discuss their close connection to the deity of their choice. The point of this thread is to coax people to explore that feeling. If you believe in god, why do you believe in God? If you feel you have a personal connection to God, what makes you think that it is "god" that you are connecting to? (Is it a process of elimination type thing or what?). Are you perhaps simply labelling a feeling that is difficult to articulate?

The second part is for those who adopted a particular religion that serves as a conduit for their understanding of God. What made you choose to become a self-identified Christian, Jew, Muslim or whatever? What was the compelling reason?

For example, the only two religions that I gave serious consideration to was ISKCON and Buddhism. (I know, I know, LOL.) In both cases though, almost at the last minute when I was about to plunge headlong in a tiny little voice in me screamed, "NO! Don't do it." Ultimately, for me, what the big turn off turned out to be was the rigid delineation of reality into neatly compartmentalized order.

In regards to god. I grew up an atheist, had an unexpected spiritual awakening, assumed god had tapped me on the shoulder (Like, who else could it be, eh?) and then ultimately explored this "relationship" far beyond where books and different schools of though will take you. In the end, being honest, I could not say that I knew if a god existed. I could pretend it was all true. That was the easy part, but I preferred the not knowing and the uncertainty because that was the only thing that I could be sure of that would keep me exploring this odd reality I have found.

I will say that taking off the "god blinkers" certainly reveals a interesting aspects of reality and because the individual is in a process of discovery you can never really say what it is that is being discovered. I sort of like it that way.

 

[Quintessence]

I find it interesting that many aspects of religion in my culture are framed as matters of belief. I often find this approach problematic because many, perhaps even most human convictions are not matters of belief. I suspect that my culture tends to frame things as a matter of belief because that is what the dominant religions seem to emphasize: creeds and dogmas. This language is ill-suited for religions that emphasize things like personal preference, direct experience, and practices. It is certainly ill-suited for mine. Asking if I "believe" in my gods is tantamount to asking me if I "believe" in reality, if I "believe" my favorite color is green, or if I "believe" in celebrating the seasonal cycle. I have knowledge of reality through direct experience, I have a personal preference for the color green, and I like engaging in meaningful practices that honor that which I find sacred (aka, the gods). Belief is not the correct word to use.

Process-wise, I believe in defining the gods in a way that is culturally-neutral and observational rather than one that is ethnocentric and prescriptive. The base definition of gods I have arrived at because of this belief is: gods are that which a person or culture deems sacred or worthy of worship. Process-wise, I believe it is up to each individual or culture to determine what those sacred things are, develop relationships with their sacred things, knowledge of their sacred things, and rituals or celebrations of their sacred things. Under this process, "I believe" statements come into play for me only with respect to what I believe is worthy of worship. If I am "connecting to" something that I feel is worthy of worship, It is a god by definition.

Why did I "adopt" the specific religion I did? The shoe already fit; I simply didn't know that particular pair of shoes existed. It was a label I didn't know existed, yet it already described what I was. I suppose I self-identified under that label in the hopes that I might connect with others of kin spirit.

 

[Boyd]

For me, belief has been difficult. I grew up with a grandfather who I adored. He lived through being in a concentration camp, and the impact it had on him was great. My Jewish upbringing was largely from him, but he was torn. He was a man who was going to be a Rabbi, and after the war, he struggled with faith. So my view from somewhat early was one of confusion. Later, I was sent to Vietnam (as a civilian. I objected to the war). The suffering that I witnessed there made this confusion all that much more.

Personally, I do have some doubt. I can not accept a G-d who is all powerful and all loving. If there is a G-d, I have to assume it is a G-d who is not active, who has limited it's power so that humans can be humans.

The reason I do lean towards belief though is mainly because I want to believe. I could reject the idea, but it boils down to wanting to believe there is a G-d.

 

[George-ananda]

The reason I do lean towards belief though is mainly because I want to believe. I could reject the idea, but it boils down to wanting to believe there is a G-d.

Why do you type 'G-d' instead of 'God'. I've seen this done by other Jews too.

 

[sandandfoam]

I believe in God because it slowly dawned on me that it felt wrong when I tried to live as if I didn't believe.
Also, when I found myself in a position where I might not live I instinctively reached for and felt the comfort of God, it's not a position I can retreat from. Nor do I want to because when i look at the world God is what I see.

 

[George-ananda]

Why do you believe?

Well, being a logical person I believe what I find to be the most logical belief. Western atheism would initially seem like the most logical belief but after studying different types of paranormal things I concluded the physicalist view of the universe, although logical, is either wrong or dramatically incomplete. I looked for a broader understanding of the universe and came upon the eastern/Indian/Vedic worldview. This worldview made sense of things that materialist/reductionists could only deny existed. I then found spiritual teachers (through literature) that taught how love and detachment are our keys to happiness.

So, I believe what I believe (Advaita Vedanta) because it is the most reasonable worldview I have encountered. And after further study I believe beyond doubt that it is essentially true. So I would not refer to my beliefs as ‘faith’ as an Abrahamic might.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

Hmm. I'm not sure how to answer this. I wasn't really raised Christian. My mom is a Christian but I don't remember her really talking about it when I was a kid (but then, I don't remember a lot about my childhood so she may have somewhat). So God isn't something I really thought that much about, I guess. We did go to various churches sometimes, but we only started when we moved out to Ohio from San Francisco in the late '90s. First, we tried one my uncle's Methodist church, which I wasn't really interested in (I didn't care for Sunday school). But I did get my first Bible from it (an NIV, which I still have). Then we tried a Baptist church and we couldn't stand the hellfire and brimstone approach and the loud music that gave me a headache every Sunday. Then we tried a UU congregation and we tried to join them, but they never got back to us to so we gave up and stopped going.

Then I went through an angry anti-Christian phase that lasted a few years. And then...I don't know. One day I just told my mom that I want to try a church again. She was happy and I picked out the Catholic cathedral here online. I had never been to a Catholic church and from what I knew from culture, it interested me. So we went to Mass, absolutely loved and that was the start of me being Catholic. I was Baptized and Confirmed on Easter Vigil 2007, along with my mom.

As for why I believe, that's a complicated question. I've looked into the various religions and concepts of deity. I've been a pantheist, tried polytheism and tried atheism (half-heartedly, since it never meshed with me). None of them have had the impact on me that Jesus Christ has. I suffer from severe depression and go through a lot of turmoil in my life. Life has been extremely difficult for me. So I immediately connected with the concept of God taking on a human body, coming down from Heaven and suffering the experience of being human, even being rejected and dying a horrible death out of love for a screwed up world that really doesn't deserve it. That God Himself knows what it's like to suffer, feel pain, be abandoned by those He loves, feel forsaken...is beautiful for me. It comforts me during my bouts of depression. A God of love Who doesn't have favorites, doesn't care about what you look like or what you're wearing. A God Who is never far from you but Who lives in your heart and holds you up during your darkest hour. Plus, the lives of the Saints and Martyrs inspire me to persevere when I feel like just giving up.

Even when I fall into the abyss and blame God for all my problems and even hate Him at times because of the messed way things are and so turn to other gods, He always comes back to me and drags me back to Him by my heartstrings. No other god has cared for me half as much. No matter how hard I fight against Him, He will never let me go and will never stop fighting for me. Plus, the Church has done more for me and my mom in helping us in our troubles than any other group has. There is real love and care there.

That's the best explanation for why I believe in the Holy Trinity that I can think of.

 

[r2d2009]

God is real.
I meditated a lot and he has become a reality - this is possible with good technique.
So I can not call myself a believer - I just know that He exists.

 

[Boyd]

Why do you type 'G-d' instead of 'God'. I've seen this done by other Jews too.

For me, there are two reasons. From a Jewish perspective, it is out of respect and reverence. While technically, there is nothing against writing out G-d with the o, in English, more often than not, the English term is given the same respect as the Hebrew equivalents. It prevents one from actually being able to erase or destroy the name.

In addition, having having read a lot of feminist theology, I came across another reason for doing such. It signifies the mystery of G-d that is still there (often, at least in feminist theology, an * replaces the -).

 

[Shia Islam]

I've been on RF for a good many years now and have often been entertained by people as they discuss their close connection to the deity of their choice. The point of this thread is to coax people to explore that feeling. If you believe in god, why do you believe in God? If you feel you have a personal connection to God, what makes you think that it is "god" that you are connecting to? (Is it a process of elimination type thing or what?). Are you perhaps simply labelling a feeling that is difficult to articulate?

For me. I find no other explanation of the existence...
How can explain this universe, creatures ...

How can explain evolution and the Big bang...

The only answer out there is God.

Then. I studies the Abrahamic religions, and found that there original form can only be originated by God.

later on, After moving toward God sincerely, I found the effects apparent.

 

[idav]

I believe in god because I have a hard time believing that this immense universe first came from a void of nothingness. To me it seems that the act of the universe existing is within everything and manifests as life. I also prefer a positive outlook so I stick with hope and faith in humanity, everything being interconnected as a state oneness leads to a sort of purpose driven universe, or at the very least life appears to be purpose driven. Seeing things this way allows me to express love for existence despite the struggles that are really a result of attachment to materialism.

 

[metis]

There's an old statement that goes "you can't come up with good answers unless you ask good questions", and it wasn't until my early 50's whereas I grabbed myself by the shoulders and asked "Why do I believe?". Belief has always been difficult for me since I am an anthropologist, and like other scientists, we live and die on the basis of evidence.

It took quite a while, but I finally concluded that I believed because 1) I was brought up to believe, and 2) because I wanted to believe. When I began to treat this whole thing more from an evidence perspective, I finally realized that there simply was no reason to believe any longer.

This really put me in a sort of crisis situation as I felt like dung since my safety net was now gone, but quite by coincidence I had been studying Buddhism, and that really saved the day for me as I was able to slip into a non-theistic approach without sacrificing a moral perspective.

 

[Jainarayan]

If you believe in god, why do you believe in God? If you feel you have a personal connection to God, what makes you think that it is "god" that you are connecting to?

I believe there is a God based on what I think is logic and reason. I believe in a deistic God, something that the universe emanates from. I don't believe anymore, though I tried, that I have any kind of personal interaction or connection with God.

The second part is for those who adopted a particular religion that serves as a conduit for their understanding of God. What made you choose to become a self-identified Christian, Jew, Muslim or whatever? What was the compelling reason?

Deistic Buddhism tinged with and influenced by Hinduism. The above paragraph explains my thoughts about God, Buddhism is a way of life, with a belief that there are other beings on different planes, i.e. devas, deities, demi-gods.

I will say that taking off the "god blinkers" certainly reveals a interesting aspects of reality and because the individual is in a process of discovery you can never really say what it is that is being discovered. I sort of like it that way.

It's personal and spiritual growth.

 

[Awoon]

Our Being as humans is far more complex then we have been told or have experienced. What I have discovered is we are amazing Being. Not minor Being compared to "supernatural being" just being, Human Being. My experiences with Christianity came to a head when I questioned, what is there to believe in if I've followed the rituals to a T according to Christian teachings? Am I going to be constantly graded beyond the rituals that I followed? The answer I realized is that I could never come up from the belief teachings of sin, or comparing me to a God/Man no matter what I "believed" and followed. It was futile for me to pretend I was "saved" when others were not, because of a particular catechism of beliefs which created insiders and outsiders of Human Being.

So now when I'm asked, "what do you believe," I answer with two words, "Why believe."

 

[Erebus]

I am what you might call an agnostic theist, I believe in gods but don't think I could absolutely prove their existence to myself or anybody else. I like to always entertain the possibility that I'm wrong.
I've had the usual selection of personal experiences, most of which could just as easily be attributed to my own mind rather than a deity. However, the reason I lean towards theism rather than atheism is that for me the gods add a little bit extra to life. I often see atheism as throwing the baby out with the bathwater, yes you get rid of all the negative elements of theism that can (and do) destroy lives, but you also get rid of that bit of wonder, excitement and even fun that the supernatural provides.
In my opinion whether or not the gods are real is irrelevant. Too many people are preoccupied with reason or finding "the truth" as though that will somehow give them a foundation or guide on which to live their lives. For me it's much better to simply embrace the chaos and uncertainty of existence and enjoy the ride. I choose to do that with my imaginary friends

 

[thau]

Hmm. I'm not sure how to answer this. I wasn't really raised Christian. My mom is a Christian but I don't remember her really talking about it when I was a kid (but then, I don't remember a lot about my childhood so she may have somewhat). So God isn't something I really thought that much about, I guess. We did go to various churches sometimes, but we only started when we moved out to Ohio from San Francisco in the late '90s. First, we tried one my uncle's Methodist church, which I wasn't really interested in (I didn't care for Sunday school). But I did get my first Bible from it (an NIV, which I still have). Then we tried a Baptist church and we couldn't stand the hellfire and brimstone approach and the loud music that gave me a headache every Sunday. Then we tried a UU congregation and we tried to join them, but they never got back to us to so we gave up and stopped going.

Then I went through an angry anti-Christian phase that lasted a few years. And then...I don't know. One day I just told my mom that I want to try a church again. She was happy and I picked out the Catholic cathedral here online. I had never been to a Catholic church and from what I knew from culture, it interested me. So we went to Mass, absolutely loved and that was the start of me being Catholic. I was Baptized and Confirmed on Easter Vigil 2007, along with my mom.

As for why I believe, that's a complicated question. I've looked into the various religions and concepts of deity. I've been a pantheist, tried polytheism and tried atheism (half-heartedly, since it never meshed with me). None of them have had the impact on me that Jesus Christ has. I suffer from severe depression and go through a lot of turmoil in my life. Life has been extremely difficult for me. So I immediately connected with the concept of God taking on a human body, coming down from Heaven and suffering the experience of being human, even being rejected and dying a horrible death out of love for a screwed up world that really doesn't deserve it. That God Himself knows what it's like to suffer, feel pain, be abandoned by those He loves, feel forsaken...is beautiful for me. It comforts me during my bouts of depression. A God of love Who doesn't have favorites, doesn't care about what you look like or what you're wearing. A God Who is never far from you but Who lives in your heart and holds you up during your darkest hour. Plus, the lives of the Saints and Martyrs inspire me to persevere when I feel like just giving up.

Even when I fall into the abyss and blame God for all my problems and even hate Him at times because of the messed way things are and so turn to other gods, He always comes back to me and drags me back to Him by my heartstrings. No other god has cared for me half as much. No matter how hard I fight against Him, He will never let me go and will never stop fighting for me. Plus, the Church has done more for me and my mom in helping us in our troubles than any other group has. There is real love and care there.

That's the best explanation for why I believe in the Holy Trinity that I can think of.

I like your answer. This question can be answered in many ways, but yours rings true for me.

In my case, I always feel the questions being thrown my way are from intellectuals, mostly agnostic or atheists, who demand empirical evidence and are not interested in anything less. So I approach the subject on their terms.

Given that, the quickest answer I would give as to why I believe in God (the Christian God that is) would be the events at Fatima, Portugal, 1917 and the documented life of Joan of Arc. There are no explanations possible for me as to what took place except divine intervention.

 

[jeager106]

Why do I believe? I'll give you and everyone here the real long answer so get ready, clean your reading glasses. and grab yourself by the backside and get ready for the shock of your life!

Because I want to.

 

[jeager106]

I always thought writing G-d was born from Jewish superstition that misspelling god, or erasing god was punishable somehow.
If I'm totally wrong please correct me.
To begin with the word god isn't a proper name tho we have been capitalising the G for so long I think it's accepted as a proper nown.
God has a name. Roughly in english it's Jehovah.
The meaning of the name is supposed to be " I am that I am."
No that isn't right, sorry.
Hebrew writing didn't used vowels so His name is spelled YHWH.
For grins if you like look up(google) meaning of Jehovah and learn how we came up with that name.
Sorry for the drift.

 

[Daler]

I believe because something truly from God fills a spiritual appetite.
We "need" to believe as much as we need to eat.
If what we are eating isn't filling our spiritual need, we tend to start grazing beyond the fenceline and seek greener pastures.
Many people go from the religion of origin to other faiths
Some end up in the Baha'i Faith the words of Baha'u'llah fill their current spiritual appetite
It is like going from the umbilical cord, to mother's milk, to eating for yourself
We must at some point be born, weaned, and acquire our own utensils
.

 

[Revasser]

I had a personal encounter with goats generally and with Goat Six in particular.

They and she are most certainly real. I don't "believe" in goats, I KNOW goats.