Why we believe in god(s) Agree/Disagree with arguments presented

Warning: I write long posts. I separate them so they are easy to read. Take your time please. You don't have to answer all questions and all points. As long as you get the general idea and go from there. The Debate point: Why do we believe in god(s)? The analysis of why we believe what we do as religious people however we define ourselves. I do not believe in a creator. That is my mini-background. This argument is taking out the evolutionary conversation. This is purely psychological and cultural reasons why we believe in god. Argument: Because belief in god is psychological and cultural, we cannot say god exists outside ourselves and minds as human beings. There is nothing wrong with that; however, I'd like to hear some reasons why these above would not be true and two, what facts do you have about god's existence that is not based on humans and human testimony. - Anderson Thomas, the author of this book, and my personal thoughts say as some reasons why we believe in god: 1. The need for a caretaker (Attachment Mechanism) 2. The Father Figure 3. Cultural Adaptions 4. Uncomfortable with "Not Knowing" A. The need for a caretaker Thomas argues we had care takers (in a general sense) all of our lives. Whatever culture we were raised in dictates the type of care we receive as children growing up. Maybe you, as a child, have had an invisible friend, had a loving mother and/or father, a caring priest, or a best friend. The attachment doesn't go away. However, we feel a bit disconnected (westerners, I'll focus on for a minute) when we grow older and want to "get out of the house" at age. Then we find in our forties we are alone and in our fifties that is probably where our morals and values crisp not just inwardly. We may be, say, christians all of our lives, but to know what christians believe AND live it, that is completely different. We develop this "them vs. me" mentality and then we start asking "why does evil come into the world" and things of that nature. Sometimes it gets so worse psychologically that we distrust humans even ourselves. It's an indirect for of depression, actually. So we turn to god. 1. god can't be seen: so he cannot be proven wrong 2. God is seen as a personal god (speaking of Abrahamics at the moment) so why would we share the "our" justifications about god to outside parties. Even on debate sites. 3. We grow to make this god more real. Catholics, in particular, make god very real by the physical Eucharist. Thomas calls this "confirmation bias." Your beliefs as a believer are confirmed by like-minds. Groups of like-believers. What is written rather than what is said. For some reason we trust what is signed on paper then what is spoken. Not all cultures are like this. That need for god becomes real. It blossoms. And when someone asks "prove god exist" how can you? It's by faith. Belief. Consciousness we can't see. Spirit. Different words that confirm our beliefs because since we can't describe it how can we disprove it. Question: That is a form of attachment. When we think of the father figure situation, we become a "child to our attachments." When we need someone to turn to, who (or what) do we go to? God. Point: We need attachment for survival and having beliefs confirmed by ourselves and others even if they are not real objective facts gives us a sense of being or a sense of foundation. God is not an outside party. He is a ideal of our need for attachment. B. The Father Figure I want to expand a bit more about needing a father figure. It comes from a need of authority and direction. We get to a point that we notice we can't (as a friend told me once) "I can't do it on my own." We need someone to guide us. The Buddha isn't god nor is our Ancestors but they do guide us in some fashion. Why do we need this father figure? In addition to what I said above, it's human nature. I'd rather say mother figure since I was raised by one parent. It's a paternal and maternal instinct to take care of one's young. Question: Hence why god is love and Thomas says, there is another mechanism attached to this and that is justice or punishment. I have a friend who, if she does something against god, she feels god will punish her and she should repent. Why do we need this ideal of authority and justice vs. love? God doesn't exist in that he is a product of our need to have love (or is love) and the need to have an authority, guide, or father figure (a need for guidance). It comes from ourselves, our culture, our history, and our present. How could it come from an outside party? Point: Our need for a father figure gives us the moral balance of love and justice. When we side on love and do things that go against that love, we feel guilt and feel as if we will be punished. While we have a sense of punishment on earth, our personal morals, we conclude, is not dependent on others. They, in western culture, do not define our morals. Instead, in god-beliefs, god defines a person's or community's morals. God is not an outside being. He is the developed morals that give people a sense of right and wrong. C. Cultural Adaptions This is relatively short. We all have culture even Americans, believe it or not. Our culture defines how we see the world, ourselves, others, and our environment. It forms how we define god. Point: Now if god was objective or exist independent on ourselves, he would have the same characteristics regardless the culture. That is not true nor is a fact. Because God has varying characteristics depending on the religion, I conclude god is a product of our cultural views and ways to make sense of the world. God is not an outside party but an ideal that defines us as a culture (to those who believe in god). Abstract not tangible. Question: If god is not a product of our culture and is independent of it (he exist without our existence), can you share attributes of god that have no reflection of our wants, needs, history, testimonies of human beings? D. Being uncomfortable with the unknown When a child is in the dark, he becomes scared of the unknown. When adults are in the dark we may become a bit uneasy. If we have seen our entire lives and all of the sudden everything becomes pitch dark, then many of us wouldn't function. I have 20/20 vision. My vision started declining in two different ways gradually. One is off and on, the other still there. I thought I was going blind. Scared the living day lights out of me. With that said, we don't have to admit it (a lot of us have pride and ego) but when you are faced with something you do not know about, you may want to challenge it, be afraid to challenge it, or just let it be. In the case of god, we feel he is "bigger than anything" and "can't be explained in human words." We use these terms to describe the unknown. But why is the unknown better than the known? Why is what you cannot see more valuable than what you can see? God, as a father figure, becomes a comfort that you are not alone. You become attached by confirmed bias (not bad, just sayin') and that gives you foundation to work in the unknown Your cultural adaptions let you understand how to interpret the unknown But it is still the unknown. Why? Why does god have to be greater and bigger? Think about it. God is pretty simple and easy to understand. Just because we do not know something doesn't mean it is greater than what we do know. If anything, cherish what we do know and don't think about what we don't. A lot of god-religious folks cannot do that. That is okay. It results in our need for an afterlife, our need to have our wisdom carried on, a need of some aspect of us to live beyond our physical passing. Yet, not many people will say I DO NOT KNOW. Question: Why is that? Point: God is an explanation of the unknown. He is the unknown because when you understand god via all the points above, you are more comfortable of confirming what you do not know with the illusion that you know. (Aka... you believe you are god without saying it). Nothing wrong with that. Even non-religious, atheist, and agnostics fall under this category. 1. The need for a caretaker (Attachment Mechanism) Our best friend, our mentor, our priest, our community, become our caretakers. We are social human beings. In this case, god becomes a caretaker because that is what we have had since a child. 2. The Father Figure Father figure or authority is every where all around the world. Why can't we lead on our own. As the comedian Kat William says "why can't we be single for awhile? Why do we need a president right now." He has a point. 3. Cultural Adaptions We all have culture. No one is isolated from that fact. 4. Uncomfortable with "Not Knowing" There are millions of things we do not know but our tendency to find answers leads us to.... god. That's why I say god does not exist. He is a product or an result of our need for the points above. As an abstract entity, how can you prove he exists out of this. I write long posts so take your time and answer the points you are interested in.