Why does anyone still believe in god? [Spirituality & Religion]

Care to explain?

@YandereChan: no, not really.

@MorbidCynic, maybe you should, because religion by definition is belief in a God or gods.

@chips24: But I don't follow a religion, therefore I'm not religious nor do I follow any religions view of god. Go away.

@chips24: Religion is man-made. The way to be right with God in every religion is by earning your way.  It is based on works, not grace.  Christianity is different from every religion in this aspect: all other religions (including Mormonism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism) state that you must earn the right to be reconciled with God.  It is by what you do in this life (good deeds or bad deeds) that determines your eternal destiny.  Christianity is completely different from this. It is not religion.

@GraceFromEP, its a religion because its a belief in God.
Its no different than ancient meso-american religions that believed that blood sacrifice would yield good crop yield.
Except, in the case of christianity, the blood sacrifice magically makes "sin" disappear, and you must accept the blood sacrifice telepathically.
That sounds pretty absurd to me. Its superstition. Its imagination.

Superstition is believing that two events are related to each other without any physical processes, but rather through magical supernatural events and pure belief without evidence. There's absolutely nothing tangible for the belief to stand on. Its just a arbitrary construct.

Human blood sacrifice has no physical relationship to our actions which we deem unethical. I mean, if that's the case, why can't I shoot my neighbour in the foot to forgive my mother's debt?

Is it right for a judge to mutilate someone innocent as atonement to pardon the crime of a murderer? Makes just as much sense. I wouldn't respect that judge.

No, Christianity is just as stupid and irrational as sacrificing a virgin by ripping her heart out to appease the fertility God to yield good crops.

Christianity is not a religion. It is a personal relationship with God. Anyone can have [i]religion.[/i] But religion didn't suffer and die on the cross for our sins. [b]Jesus did.[/b]

It is the extreme [i]religions[/i] that is the problem. Religion is man-made philosophies. That's why they don't work. Even the great evangelist, Billy Graham, attests to Christians being called upon by the Lord, to spread the good news of the saving grace of Jesus, so all will know where their salvation comes from.

In religions, you have man creating his own God. That's idolatry.
In religion, you have man trying to [i]earn[/i] his salvation by "good works".
While Jesus tells us it is only by [i]grace[/i] through faith, that we're saved.
No other religions have a living God, that hears prayers and answers.
In addition, none of the other gods died on the cross for our sins. Jesus did.
In religions, there is rhetoric or rituals that have to be closely adhered to.
Other religions are about man trying to reach up to God.  Christianity is about God reaching down to man. @chips24:

@GraceFromEP, you negated your first sentence as soon as you mentioned God. If Christianity isn't a religion, that means there is no faith, no Gods, no prayer, no worship, no holy texts.

Is that what you're trying to tell me?

@GraceFromEP, you're trying to sell salvation through blind faith. You're trying to sell a superstition, a human blood sacrifice as atonement based on a religious book that claims Gods can incarnate as humans. How is telepathically accepting a blood sacrifice not a ritual? How is that not religion?

@chips24: Christians define their relationship with God as personal. If others wish to define it as religion, they are free to do so. We just don't. It takes a personal commitment on the part of the believer, to have a personal relationship with Jesus. I was distinguishing the difference between how God looks at religion vs. a personal relationship with Him. He was against religious leaders because they were phony. Hypocritical he called them. They would make grimacing faces to be seen of men, in order to show how repentant they were. God didn't like that. He even threw some religious leaders out of the Temple because they were defiling it. Their hearts were far from him. That's how he described it. In the religions of the world, they have no Savior. No Messiah. Their gods cannot see, hear, nor speak, unless they worship Satan, but God is above him. That is religion. Worshipping man-made gods.

Your religion evolved from polytheism. Your God was once part of a pantheon.
Blood sacrifice atonement isn't unique to your religion either. It has its own unique development of changes and revisions just like any other faith.

Every religion claims a personal relationship with their god or gods.
Changing dictionary definitions doesn't make your beliefs more legitimate or truthful. Neither does just simply asserting these things are true.
Their Gods can see and hear and speak just as well in their minds and beliefs as yours. You think someone would worship a God that they think can't see and answer their prayers?

@chips24: Salvation [i]is[/i] based on blind faith. That is what God requires. There was no need of a book back in the days Jesus saved people. You're asking me to give what would take a long time to explain, but I could do it. You're trying to figure an infinite, eternal God out with a finite mind. As do others. It simply cannot be done. We are not smarter than God. If only you would keep an open mind so God could speak to your heart, and [i]then[/i] make up your mind, having informed information, from God's own words, not mine, you would see how this all came about, but right away, you shut your mind off, and reject God. One cannot [u]possibly[/u] understand the [u]things[/u] of the spirit, until they have been [i]born[/i] of the spirit. The gospel is foolishness until the Holy Spirit can [u]interpret[/u] it's meaning to you. But no. Everything right away is nothing but fairytales and delusion. You've already made up your mind, so what is the point? I know all those questions you asked me, because I received the Holy Spirit after I accepted Jesus as my personal Savior. If you would like to study with me, I'd be more than happy to share what I know from experience and God's Word. Just pm me, but to ask me to just spirt it all out is unreasonable, given there is much to write and explain. I'm not wiser nor smarter than you. But I know what I know, only because of what Jesus has done for me and how he saved me from death. If you don't want to believe in those things, don't, that's your choice, but please do no mock my beliefs or make fun of my God. I do not criticize nor berate you for your beliefs. If you cannot agree, then let us be adults, and agree to disagree, not attack each other. If I said anything that you felt was mean or cruel, I ask you to forgive me, as that was certainly not my intention at all.

@chips24: [b]YOU'RE RIGHT! YOU WIN. HAPPY NOW?[/b]. You don't want to learn. You just want to argue. Argue by yourself. I won't engage in that.

@GraceFromEP,
You don't question what you believe.
I must question everything.

You are not teaching me anything, you are spouting out baseless assertions. I would gladly believe in your God if I had a reason to.
But just like any other faith, everything is hearsay.
The bible, your personal convictions...

Oh my gosh. You don't know [b]me,[/b] or what I went through. It took me years to find God. I was a skeptic too. That's [b]all[/b] I did was question. I would send you my testimony of exactly how I found God in this hateful cruel world, but you would just make fun of me and laugh at me. @chips24:

@GraceFromEP, you just said that you believe blindly without any solid evidence because that's what God asks of you, but now you're saying you have questioned what you believed?

@chips24: Nooooo. No. I questioned [b]before[/b] I found God. Never now. I have to get off now. Hugs. I wish you the uttermost best. Sincerely. ❤

Religion has a doctrine. I have no doctrine. I follow no religion, no doctrine, I follow nothing. I am not religious.