God, as a concept, is just as real, and has as much effect on the world, as any other concept.

eye feel that the comment that those who believe in “god” (whatever the definition) are being simplistic seems to imply that the commenter knows what the thought processes of those with faith in a god or gods is; I myself don’t assume to be so superior as to gno what anyone’s reasons are, but my suspicious is that even the seemingly simplistic has a whole “complex” of reasons and desires–emotional, intellectual, psychological, etc.–built in. Same goes for atheists.

more interesting to me is what are the effects of faith–are they functional? and then ya gotta think, what KIND of faith, because, say christian A (Pat Robertson) has faith in one way, which leads to certain effects in mindset and behavior and “success” in the world (look at all dem 700 Club-bots!), christian B (Soren Kierkegaard or, hell Meister Eckhart) have a different KIND of faith in terms of how it operates and what its effects are. And the same can go for KINDS of anti-faith or atheism. It can be as individual as the person–but what are the criteria (or the psychological make-ups) of the adherents that makes atheism or faith useful and effective as tools or operating systems? And what makes them disfunctional and ultimately self-defeating?

maybe god is a question. after all, isn’t it likely that god is beyond both faith and proof, in the trickster realm of uncertainty? you won’t know if you don’t ask.

oh, and as the burden of faith is on those that desire faith, so too is the burden of proof on those that desire proof.

and i really do see both faith and proof as burdens, desired as they are.

Even my own direct experience is influenced by the opinions of other men.

A more interesting question for a believer is whether there is proof that God doesn’t exist. Of course there’s plenty of evidence to support that… however, none of it is 100% conclusive, and therefore I’m back at Square One again.

After a while, it becomes clear to me that belief in God is something you have to want. Like Mulder and his UFOs, I Want To Believe.

I think most Christians want to believe but have no fucking clue as to how, and they line up like sheep in front of a priest or preacher and take their words for it.

I alos have met many atheists who wanted to believe once, but extremely negative exposure to man’s inherent hypocrisy alienated them from traditional belief.

So, according to my logic, belief in God is rooted in Desire, one of the basest instincts that we humans possess. Maybe Desire is the True God… who knows?