@RandomGuy: I don't have any trouble accepting the 'concept' of God. What I have trouble with is finding any reasons why I should believe this concept is instantiated in a real being. If you think you have reasons, then let's hear them.

Dear David,

<<Other than procreation, humans have no other purpose, just like every other living thing.>>

We were discussing the purpose of life, not the purpose of humans (or any other living-being for that purpose).

<<Truth and reality are the enemies of all religion!>>

The enemy of religion is the illusion of existence. Truth and reality are the enemies of irreligion, and though the battle may last astronomical ages, at the end truth always wins and the reality of God is revealed.

Dear Jon,

<<What I have trouble with is finding any reasons why I should believe this concept is instantiated in a real being. If you think you have reasons, then let's hear them.>>

Yes there are reasons, but these are of a practical and technical nature, not factual as if God is really a being.

Most people find it too abstract, thus difficult, to worship God in His abstract non-form, hence they require something a bit more tangible. Some people in the primitive end of town even need an actual physical idol which they can see, touch and feel, taste and smell, while others require a convenient mental/mythological concept which they can think of God as.

There is nothing wrong with either: both can be used as valid religious techniques for a while, but ultimately, for the last mile, one has to give up such aids.

So while there are good reasons to temporarily believe in God as a real being, you should keep in the back of your mind that this is only a technique, which one day you will need to let go of.

What would happen?
Nothing!

My experience is that the meaning of life for a conservative is to create wealth & for a leftie it means to exploit the conservative's wealth.

@Jon J

@RandomGuy: I don't have any trouble accepting the 'concept' of God. What I have trouble with is finding any reasons why I should believe this concept is instantiated in a real being. If you think you have reasons, then let's hear them.

Thanks for your question. As for why you should believe it I have no idea, I think the only answer I can give is that if the reason motivates any desire in you then you should believe it, at least until proved wrong. Of course I accept this as a 2-way proposition so I'm talking principle rather than specific God case.

As far as the reason that I desire, I think the best way to explain it is to say that I want it to be true, and that if it is true it would be a wonderful thing. I understand that not everyone shares this desire but its what works for me. I believe that since humans can improve and change and learn, there must be a more complete knowledge out there than what I have, or have time to learn in mortality. One of my desires is to have the time to learn all that there is to learn, and the only thing outside of my control is my own mortality and physical health. But if a being had power over death, and could share that power with others (me in particular), then I would want to benefit from the extra time that gives me and continue trying to learn and perfect myself throughout the centuries I exist. I hope that makes sense. As I said, I'm not asking you to have the same desires as me, but that is one of the reasons that motivates me.

If there is a purpose in human life, then surely it has to be the realisation of dreams.
Moreover, our dreams and that which truly fulfils, rarely has anything to do with money or its acquisition, but rather, passing that final exam, passing that physical, climbing that mountain, overcoming and succeeding in spite of the odds or that disability, finding and sharing our life with our soul mate etc/etc.
If one can't find or believe in God, then surely one can believe in the mighty irrefutable truth.
One can look at and marvel at the universe and its vast and incomprehensible scope!
Or the fact, in essence, everything in it is composed of energy, much of it vibrating at speeds just below the speed of light!
Or the immense comparative distances between atoms, in the subatomic world!
Or the very many steps and changes in the universe, that were necessary since the so-called big bang, to make this tenuous thing we call life, actually possible.
Can the universe think?
You and I can, and we are an integral part of it!
That said, I've never seen a man walking on water, never seen any religious leader lay his/her hands on and genuinely heal the sick, or be suddenly be taken over by a holy spirit and suddenly automatically become bilingual; and nobody but nobody has ever turned my water into wine, with just a wave of a magic hand!
I have heard of sudden mysterious and powerful medical remission!
The bible story greatest story ever told?
Probably?
And probably a work of serially plaguerised fiction at that?
Rhrosty.