*notgoingtoarguenotgoingtoarguenotgoingtoargue*
Purely out of curiosity.
Why do you want/need to believe in a God? What do you get out of it? It just seems like an unnecessary thing to me. "Tits on a bull" if you will.
Not arguing. Just curious.
I originally posted to put belief in God into context for you, not to sway you. To me there is so much more to Christianity than reading the Bible. You have to go and put all the writings into the context of their time and their writers (much like Greek Mythology and other religions). Just because the Bible said God killed everyone in Canaan doesn't mean it really happened. Maybe that's not the point of the story; that could just be Jews applying the revelation of God ultimately punishing the wicked to a visual story of it happening. If you were in that time you would feel more safe with a God that would punish your enemies during life than one who just threatened them with punishment after death. It is because of this that I scratched everything I had been taught and I read and researched it for
myself. I found everything I believe in for myself; I didn't just expect someone to hand it to me and don't expect anyone to believe what I believe.
I believe people take the Bible much too literally, especially because it was written by people with a completely different set of mind. I believe the Bible is composed of revelations, but applied to scenarios in order to explain them. Anyone who believes in the actual existence of Adam and Eve deserves a swift kick to the balls, honestly. The existence of Adam and Eve was not the point of Genesis. It was to give insight into our human condition.
Anyways, I don't even feel comfortable answering your question because I know that your intention was to just take what I write and use it against me. I don't know why I'm doing this but I will answer the question under the assumption that you recognize that this is what I believe.
I actually do respect what you believe up until you start criticizing the beliefs of others. I am always very hesitant to share my beliefs because they are very personal to me. Nothing harms me more than people taking what I believe and throwing it out the window when all I ask is to have my opinion heard, not taken for fact.
Answer: Because I find it hard to just fall back on science, which provides the only other explanation for existence.
Water is cold only because we sense it as cold. If we didn't have a senses, words like "temperature" wouldn't exist. Wouldn't it be arrogant to assume that our 5 senses experience all that there is to experience in this universe? Science can in no way reach all the domains of reality or tell me the ultimate meaning of our existence, but the existence of God can for
me. Science's aim is based towards humane goals, but we don't even know what "human" means. I have no reason
not to believe in God. I'm sure our definitions of God are very different though. I see God as defining freedom for us, not taking it away from us. I don't see believing in God as wasting my life in expectation of an afterlife. Those who believe in nothing in turn believe that their very existence means nothing, and so I don't really see why this is the better view. There!
That is MY view on the matter since you asked, and not THE view on the matter.
It's proven that if man can't look to the future with hope he loses the will to live, as seen in Viktor Frankl's recollection of his experience in a Jewish concentration camp. Those who said and believed stuff like "We'll be liberated by New Years!" died soon after New Years came and they were not liberated. I'm looking to the future and I only can see one possibility and it's Him. I have hope and a gut feeling, and now I just need the proof for myself. For many this is not reason enough but for me it is. Maybe that's why INFJs have to hold so much of themselves back. Otherwise it's like cupping the flame of our beliefs from everyone else's hard blowing wind.
I don't ever try and force my beliefs on anyone and I take that into consideration when I vote. Hell, all my friends outside of college are atheist and I don't care. I understand their point of view and they understand mine, and we respect that. We don't run around criticizing people for their life choices,
we respect them as people and move on with our own life. A lot of despair and loss comes from people all over the world failing to do this, not because God caused it.
P.S.
(Please don't mistaken me for a Christian like hungrypossum.)