How do people know there is a God? How can they give their whole self (heart, body and soul) to a specific God, Church or belief system KNOWING somehow they are right, and you are wrong. If there was only one correct way of approaching God possible, there would be only one religious ideal, wouldn't there?
This God… they say He is your friend, that He listens and so on. He is not your best friend. Your best friend laughs with you and cries with you. He will not hold you when you cry, feed you when you’re hungry, clean your house for you. He does not cook. He does not listen, and he does not offer advice or a hug when you’ve had a rough day at work. And it’s NOT in the bible. I’ve looked. It’s just words on a page – any book that resonates with you would do the same thing.
I loved someone recently from a beautiful small town and beach-side community, and now I see that it's actually very isolating. That his loving family was really imposing THEIR religion on all the kids. They grew up not knowing any different, and there probably weren't too many options. Did you know that psychology says that the more isolated someone is, and the smaller their circle, the more likely they are to turn to religion as a way of feeling included and not so lonely? Interesting…
I'd just like to know how this sort of thing happens. HOW do people KNOW, and know WHEN to shun everyone bar those from their church? What the heck is going on?
Science has 'issues' with "knowing" as well :
I was given a King James bible at 5 years old. I was brainwashed from birth. Everyine in my family and community believed there was a god. I could have been punished for even questioning the existance of god. It is called brainwashing.
They don't know any such thing they just like to say they do.
One has to wonder who it is they are actually trying to convince.
Don’t know! Probably best ask then!
They are probably the only people that would know!
Such people do not understand the nature of knowing and the nature of knowledge. They are usually significantly cognitively challenged.
They "believe" there is a God. They may say they know, but since there isn't the tiniest bit of evidence there is a God, they can't know. They can only believe. They only believe in their god(s) and not other folks god(s), so they are atheists when it comes to peoples god(s). We are just atheist to one more God, as put by Ricky Gervais.
They don’t… In fact, they likely doubt it.. That appears to be why they so fervently promote it. That’s why their greatest fear isn’t the church next door, but those not attending.. Us
There have been some brilliant descriptions posted on this site describing humanities apparent need for something bigger than itself, and how that affects the social structures it creates. I’m in an isolated setting of long-time families who continue to promote the god concept. It often feels like a secret society initiation of sorts to ‘believe,’ to toss your aledgence to some church, to subordinate your freedom ..and ignore reality to the point you, too, will learn your place and do what you’re told.
Listened to a local guy who’d done some serious ‘church shopping’ before settling on ‘the right one.’ I thought, so you get to pick & choose your flavor? Each church (and there’s a shitload of em) in my area plays to a slightly different audience or social economic layer of the community.. Basically, they’re hiring a preacher to tell them what they want to hear. So is that a god’s message … or their own..?