What If God Was One Of Us?

I don't see the need to believe in a god.

I am not mentally weak; I do not need a crutch to support me.

I am not concerned about nothingness; I do not need a second life like heaven; I am happy to rot.

I do not need to know about how we came to be here; the theories are interesting.

But you are not "everyone" -- you are just you.   You are also ascribing to others your own definition of Religion and God.

If believing in God, or having "faith" or belonging to some type of organized Religion helps others feel good, why is that a bad thing?  Why would you care?

Like anything else, I only find problems when "extremes" are used to justify abhorrent behaviours.  

For many, Religion is filled with analogies to help teach people to simply be kind to others who may be different, and how to realize there are other people, besides yourself, to think about.

Everyone is free to think whatever they want, and parents raise their children however they want, whether it involves Religion or nutrition.

It's only a lie because you believe it is. For people who believe in God, it isn't a lie. You cannot prove either way, which is why some will believe, and others won't.

I believe in God, and I also believe in Science and Evolution and Astrophysics in regards to the creation of universes (ours or any). One doesn't preclude the other.

The basic tenets taught have to do with treating other people better, loving others, being respectful. . . those are not bad things and are not at all a signal to the destruction of society.

As with anything else, it's extremists who get the attention and unfortunately we all get lumped together.

Raising our kids to love others, to believe that there's a greater force that created the universe (ie: we peons, we humans, cannot do so, so God is the name assigned to that Source Consciousness, to that Creative Force), to not steal or murder, to respect their elders, to volunteer, to believe in something greater than themselves so they're not selfish asshats,....those are not negative things, nor lies, nor unreason.

You can pass on all of those positive attributes without adding the illogical part- that there is a god.

No, I'm just answering the question as me.

Why preclude it?

I'm explaining that for many of us, Religion and God are not crutches and we are not mentally weak.  There's more to, for example, being Catholic, than believing in God.

By the same logic, why must you *not* believe in a greater creative force in order to be kind to people?  

Indisputable is the fact that an "Energy" that is unknown and cannot be duplicated by man created the universe (I believe there are more than one), and that we humans cannot create a universe, and that force which created the beginning before time is God.  It's a name, a label given to Energy and Source Consciousness.

Why is Religion a crutch and why do you take such umbrage against people who choose to have Faith in their lives.  No one is forcing you to change your viewpoint or convince you otherwise.  I'm not judging you for your choice to not believe or implying, direct or otherwise, that you are inferior.

We as humans are social creatures, and if organized Religion and in my case Catholic teachings, have helped me since I was a child to develop into a person with morals, if anything it's just sad to see people not be tolerant.  By all means don't believe.  In fact I see that happening more and more with kids today not believing in God.  What I also see is a decline in the human condition.  Is it related?  I'm not sure.  Too many variables to consider.

I also wasn't raised to be controlled by a vengeful God with threats of Hell or promises of Heaven based purely on my behaviour here on Earth.  Once again, sweeping generalizations.