Note: E2 (and the Internet at large) is a portrait of humanity itself. This writeup is offered to explain the thoughts of a Christian (several were consulted) about the existence of God. Kindly read it as such. If you are going to downvote this, don't do so simply because it is about religion, or because you disagree with it or because this is getting to know you node (it's not). I'm not trying to force you to believe anything, I'm simply trying to make the picture more complete.

Now that that's out of the way...

I want to start by saying that although it's popular these days to speak of all the things Freud got wrong, he was, from time to time, dead on. You see, deep within the mind, one finds monsters, if one cares to go looking. More precisely, deep within the mind, one might find that one's own self is a monster. For some reason, we are not what we want to be. We want things that something inside of us tells us not to want. When anyone talks about God, they always seem to deal with that. Sure, it could be that nothing is really wrong, and those desires are there because of how we evolved, as are the inhibitions. However, just because it could be doesn’t mean that it is. Besides, it’s kind of hard to bring myself to believe that.

Furthermore, how can we say for certain that something is real? How do we know that we aren't dreaming, or hallucinating, or something else? Doesn't the human being have to just assume certain things, like what we see and feel, are true? And if something makes sense, and seems to exist, is it really that illogical to assume it does?

I ask you, is God really more absurd than Turkmenistan? I've never seen either, but I've heard a lot about both. People claim to have experienced both. I can't really prove either to exist or not exist without a doubt, and either one could be an elaborate hoax for some reason. Do I become somehow more "enlightened," or even better off if I deny the existence of a country or a God? After all, most people alive, and most people who have ever lived believe or have believed in some sort of God or gods. How many of them have or had any idea what Turkmenistan is?

Everything under the Sun is useless. Think about it. What’s the use in doing anything? In a relatively short time, we’ll all be dead, and nothing of us will remain. Everything you do will eventually be undone by man or nature. Eventually, no evidence or memory of you or me will be left. Now, this sort of thought can have a number of effects. You can try to think about it over and over again until the shock and/or horror goes away, and you just accept it, you can try to ignore the thought through seeking pleasure or other means, or you can assume that there is something which makes at least some things meaningful.

In case you missed my not at the beginning, I’ll say again: It’s up to you what you believe. I am not trying to and do not thing I can succeed in convincing anyone on this matter. I am simply putting a collection of ideas on the internet.

secondchances says re Why I Still Like God: love that you were willing to node this, would like it better if it were not so afraid of offending others not of the faith ... would also recommend to find a better analogy than Turkmenistan because you can actually go "find it" with an airplane ticket or maybe a camel, not so much the case with God

You can seek God, too. Both quests cost something, though. I, for example, don't have the money for an airplane to Turkmenistan, so either I would have to work hard and make the sacrifice of saving money to go there by airplane, or I would have the hardship of a more creative mode of travel. Seeking God, it seems to me, is a similar in that it is a difficult journey. It is a spiritual, rather than a physical journey, though.

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