Tfw you wan't to be religious but you just can't believe in a god

That's the question of the post. He just CAN'T believe in that infallible truth. It's comfortable, but for some people (me, for example), as mucha as you want to believe in it, it's just sounds illogic

I have a similar problem. I do believe in God, but I just can't convince myself that a religion I want to believe in is true.

Anyone else in here scared af by G-d?

Perhaps God has turned you over to a reprobate mind. You aren't gay by any chance are you?

JOOOO

Oy vey pls no

Be a religious naturalist ya dip

You wouldn't know it, by the various internet arguments that exist on the Internet, but belief in God is really the least important aspect of Christianity. It is, in fact, in no way a requirement.

The simplest reason I can give for this, without delving into esoteric mystical mumbo-jumbo, is that Christianity, like most religions, isn't a matter of simple belief, but a way of life. It's dedication to the concept of God, not God Himself, for God, is unknowable.

The Bible and its word can act as a gateway to understanding of the precepts of God. The words of Jesus can provide the foundations for one's life, but God Himself is both sacred and preverbal, not a concrete knowable construct of belief which one can put into words, but a placeholder for a subject beyond understanding, not to be known directly.

The divine within each of us strives for the divine without, but always to no practical worldly end. Much as our own consciousness is something we always know to be there, but can neither truly define nor prove the existence of, one's relationship to God is a faith that is wholly intangible, wholly individual, and wholly incommunicable, save by vague parables that point towards that of human condition, which cannot be expressed in exactitudes of belief or understanding.

Thus when atheists claim science proves God doesn't exist, and Christians try to prove that He does, they've both lost site of the purpose of both science and religion. Christianity does not hang on the existence or non-existence of God, anymore than does science. Fear of divine punishment or yearning for reward should not be and is not truly central to any religion - it is the lowest rung of the ladder that so many folks get stuck on - at least externally and in expression. Even the loudest of the fundamentalists on either side of the debate know, on some level, that there's simply so much more to it than that, however much may they yell at one another while covering their ears.

Several reason.
>Social acceptance
>Sense of belonging
>Sense of community
>Sense of inherent value

I'm in a similar position. I think its helpful to think of faith as not trying to make a jump, but letting yourself fall. A leap of faith

Genuinely good post.

well if you really want it so much, why can't you just make yourself accept the belief? What exactly is stopping you? Just go to church or something, and see what happens.

also, you should see this guy , it's a good thinking that many non-christians and christians fail to understand

I believe in a higher power, but I doubt it's some old guy in the sky who controls everything.

Perhaps if you've suffered several strokes

>Much as our own consciousness is something we always know to be there, but can neither truly define nor prove the existence of
u wot m8

Consciousness is a mystery because human consciousness is so damn weak that we can't get a definite measure of it. At any giving time, a human's mind is just a fading afterimage of a consciousness that manifested for only an instant.

I could easily believe in some kind of creator but can't for the life of me follow any religion because of the hypocrisy, corruption and how it's used to maniupulate people.

Nietzsche offers a pretty good alternative on how to live a good life tbqh senpai

Not really, dude.

It's kind of a charming idea, but "belief in God is really the least important aspect of Christianity" is an assertion that would be outright laughed at by ... well, most devout Christians, to start with. Most priests/pastors - perhaps some of the very secular ones in western Europe would take it seriously but they're certainly not representative (and wouldn't claim to be). I doubt any notable theologians would take it seriously. Pretty tough idea to find Biblical support for. It also doesn't reflect how most laypeople actually practice Christianity (to an awful lot of Christians, having "faith" is one of the most important things).

Near as I can tell it's an idea that only exists in the mind of that one poster. It's just not true.

How is this any different? You may want to believe there's a supernatural force looking out for you but you just can't.

It's people like you that ruin religion. And why we have people like the (((new atheists))).

Either God exists, or he doesn't, and spare me the sophistry. All of this is some mumbo-jumbo loop-holing so you can get out of admitting that your deity is not, in fact, fucking REAL.

Believing what you do is basically living out a virtual reality in real life.

>i'm going to pretend all of this is true and follow a way of life user!!!

But it's intellectually disingenuous and contemptuous.

Noahidism is legit the best option for religion

>why would you want to be overcome with slave-morality, OP?
because humans are subservient creatures that crave an idol perhaps?
ya fucking retard

I'll summarise user's argument for anyone short of time

>I'm intelligent enough to figure out that Christians have and always will fail to verify the fundamental claims in Christianity. E.G. no one can verify that Jesus was the son of God, and that he sacrificed himself on the cross for our sins
>I still want to believe in God, however, because He is my psychological crutch.
>Therefore I will claim that God's existence is not central to Christianity, and so long as you feel like you want God to exist, then he will.

Out-fucking-standing.

>Humans are subservient creatures that crave an idol
>[some] humans are subservient creatures that crave an idol

Religion is a psychological crutch. You will only fulfil your true potential if you realise this.

Not "a" god, user.

God.

I would follow those atheist yet religious Roman thinkers that supported religion as a cement to maintain social order. Mos maiorum bitches.

This is the real redpill. You're not supposed to advertise atheism to the masses, because plebs can't handle it and will enter self-destruct nihilistic mode. You must uphold religion to safeguard culture, which doesn't mean you have to believe in it yourself. Something which many a pope realized as well btw, before that monk Luther ruined it.

This is only true in a society that's uniformly religious, like eastern European. It doesn't work once you start breaking up Christianity like a doll and splitting it up into different sects.

Still, I actually don't think that's the purpose of religion. People can stay in line if your laws are decent and you enforce them well enough. So long as you aren't a total retard and and you're not raising a society of psychopaths, you shouldn't have a problem.

But people have clearly degenerated since Christianity has left the scene in the West. The question is whether that's directly related to them being irreligious, or if it has more to do with Leftist imbeciles taking over the educational system and turning out sheep instead of individuals that can think for themselves.

Leaving aside the pragmatism, though, religion isn't true. It's fine to talk about it as a tool that brings society together or even fights against precepts like class and race, but when you get down to the basics... it's a falsehood. And no matter how positive it might be, I wouldn't want to live a lie, and I wouldn't want my society to, either.

It's like that question of whether you would want to be in the Matrix and live the ideal life, or suffer like a dog in the real world. Religion is pretty much that. The only thing that's important is whether or not it's true, even if that means losing cohesion or even our culture over it.

>The question is whether that's directly related to them being irreligious, or if it has more to do with Leftist imbeciles taking over the educational system and turning out sheep instead of individuals that can think for themselves.
But these are not separate issues. The one is entirely related with the other, that is unbelief with the rise of leftism. If God doesn't exist and there's no afterlife, you would be a fool not to get the most out of your life while you can. But not everyone has the resources to live an hedonistic lifestyle. Now arises the envy for those who have. It's only an accident of birth that he has what I don't have. Why shouldn't I steal his resources? Why shouldn't I gang up with people that think like me, and share the loot. After all, there's no morality.

Now I happen to agree that there's no God, afterlife or morality. But if the above reasoning becomes generalized throughout society, you have chaos and society will degenerate to African levels. You can't reason that with low IQ high time preference people that's it's in their long term interest that that doesn't happen and that they must endure inequality for the sake of the general good. Nor is it enough to threaten him with the use of force, as the rule of violence is an unstable one. No, you must instill in him that self-regulating, internal sanction that only religion can provide. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, or prudence, to the inferior man (and women in general).

>And no matter how positive it might be, I wouldn't want to live a lie, and I wouldn't want my society to, either.
You can live in truth. Privately. But ultimately it's not about you, it's about maintaining order and culture that your ancestors built and relegated to you. Men must sacrifice certain things in order to maintain his cultural inheritance. Don't think for a moment that you will be able to "live in truth" either if the forces of envy, chaos and dissolution have their way. They will impose their truth, or their lie, on you if you don't impose yours on them. That is before society collapses anyway.

Only rulers should be atheists, since they have to do sinful things for the sake of their people

Same here m8. I think Christianity is the only thing holding degeneracy at bay. I would want my future wife to be Christian, and I would let any kids we had go to church, but personally I just don't believe any of it.

Once I saw religious people talking about history and spiritual stuff to this and that period and it felt really cool

So I get op feel. I want the knowledge and authority associated with being religious but I can't believe God exists

>if we don't have Yahweh we'll all become cannibals
The sheer fact that everyone who reads Dawkins doesn't become a cocaine junky and the Fedora isn't seen as a sign of mass murder is proof that religious dogma and a draconian theocracy aren't necessary to have society not collapse. The USSR - shitty as it was - didn't descend into anarchy despite a lack of religion.

What you're actually saying is that without someone to enforce The Law we'll all descend into murderous barbarism. But why would you expect the people enforcing The Law to not be above the same murderous barbaric urges? Do papal vestiments, a badge and a blue uniform, a crown, whatever, really elevate a man above the rest of the populace?

People are inherently capable of morality (What the individual morals are depending on society). That tribe in the Amazon that doesn't have numbers above "three" doesn't have a religion at all, and they believe that when they die, that's it, it's over. They've existed like this for thousands of years and would continue to exist completely free from "thou shalt not" without descending into murderous barbarism.

>Consciousness is a mystery because human consciousness is so damn weak that we can't get a definite measure of it.
Is there some creature in this universe with a consciousness strong enough to measure to allow you to make such a claim?

For all we know, the human consciousness is the most powerful in the universe - or maybe consciousnesses can't be compared that way.

I suspect the only thing you could say for certain, is that for each individual, that consciousness is the most powerful thing in the universe - it is,in fact, the entirety of that universe, and beyond.

Well, I'm not surprised you missed my point, as it is difficult enough to articulate, much less make it over the poisonous wall of assumptions built up around the subject.

But no, it's not about pretending to believe, or making God exist through practice. Not that I haven't heard others give exactly that advice. I suppose that's purportedly worked for some - follow the path and you will "find God" but that's not what I intended to advocate in this case.

Rather, in an attempt to bring one closer to the point, even if this is one particular pool of water no horse can be really lead to - what difference would it make to Christianity as a whole if God didn't exist? In what way does Christianity require God exist in this universe to be sustained?

...If you think about it long enough, I'll think you'll find the answer none at all. Save, perhaps, the existence of the concept itself, which is ultimately unknowable, and thus effectively, doesn't exist, save as a vague and disputed reference point in the cultural consciousness.