Can you "choose" to believe in God, if you just genuinely don't?

[aquestionwithnoanswer]

Namechanger as this is just a bit too personal.

Basically as the title says. I can't help it, I believe facts. I believe science and proof and things that I can "know."

I was raised in Christianity, can quote the Bible chapter and verse, educated about many religions, surrounded by people who have faith, but I cannot bring myself to believe in God - any God.

The thing is, I want to. For various reasons, I really want to believe in God.

Do you choose it? How can I "make" myself believe it? I certainly don't feel it. If I am honest, it all makes very little sense, it is illogical, it is not rational. My mum answers that with "that's why it's called faith!" but that is not really helpful.

How do you get there from here?

The was for: this is what I think you mean, but I might be wrong.
And I didn't mean that you should simply take over someone else's view on whatever, just that other people's experiences may be very useful.
I don't know... I got touched by your genuine desire to seek meaning to life (and death), I wanted to share my experiences in case you found it helpful but am very as to the usefulness thereof. Sorry.

Absolutely nothing to be sorry for, DutchOma. I certainly appreciate your sharing your experiences. Apologies if this was misunderstood.

Thanks

That "something more" had absolutely nothing to do with religion for me personally though

I'm with you on that OP. ah it seems like I'm splitting hairs but I do passionately believe that a lot of 'religion' - or religious practise - has nothing to do with God whatsoever. And that's before we get onto the heinous things people do in the name of 'God'.

I suppose we need some kind of structure to erm worship God. Or do we? the early church was marked for its relative lack of structure, fresh as they were from the presence of Jesus; who was as anti-religion as you can get. He loathed with a passion the religious leaders of his day, precisely because they burdened people down with rules and obligation: the very opposite of God's nature.

is your friend a christian OP?

Yes he is Springy.

You're not splitting hairs imo. I think a significant part of my own hangup in trying to believe is down to religious practise. God (maybe easier if simply called "something more") would be much easier to accept without structured religion associated with the concept. I don't think I articulated that very well, but hopefully ykwim.

Of course you can delude yourself, like so many women who delude themselves that an extra cream cake will be fine, but truthfully you are just going to make yourself unwell.

I don't think the OP can delude herself - that's why she's facing this problem with commendable honesty.

OP - Sorry that you find yourself in this situation.

Could you explore the concept of some kind of afterlife/universal force outside of the framework of Christianity? If you could find something else that sounds more plausible, that related to some kind of spirituality that you can genuinely believe?

(Meant to say, I totally relate to Hecate's first post upthread.)

Oh, I think Hecate should have Oracle status on MN!

That would be handy, I could use an Oracle right now! :)

Sharpsuit, can I ask why I will make myself unwell? This certainly is making my head spin a bit, but hadn't thought about it being unhealthy?

Grimma you are so right about not being able to delude myself.

I've wondered that BintofBohemia...

jj, I lived on that site after dd died.

Thanks jj, it looks interesting, will check it out in greater detail in a bit. Interesting in the few articles I read (in the research section) how it refers to God but doesn't seem to be any specific "denomination" for lack of a better term.

ok, ok, you need a structured leadership I guess, but what is 'leading'? splits hairs even further . I don't like the select few at the front, for instance: it seems to encourage a passivity, a dependence; detracts from a personal, living relationship with the lovely God? I'd much rather the leaders gravitated to something closer to facilitators... a 'user-led' church maybe...

OP, when I became a christian I was aghast that I was. It took a lot of getting my head around like, do I wear socks with sandals now? but here I still am and 'something more' has been faithful. The lead-up to getting together with God was a time of real turmoil for me - actually, horrible and painful. Like being in labour.

sorry to have opened up a debate that may not be relevant to you OP re church/leadership etc.

Stay away from church and contemplate. You'll find your own answers.

I came to the conclusion that God is Love. An omnipresent creative force.

Work out what God is, then believe whatever your rational mind comes up with. Dont try to believe whats in someone elses head. God is made simple to understand for children because the God concept is so massive to comprehend. So you either just say yes, i'll go with that or you use your brain to work it out through philosophy or science or whatever avenue is your thing. When you work it out for yourself it's not just a belief its a rock!

Sorry I've not read the thread, just jumped in in answer to OP.

Just want to thank Hecate for conveying so well my own views.
I, too, spent many years seeking and questioning, and also came to the conclusion that yes there is a God. It certainly didn t happen overnight ! And if I am wrong, well my life has been hugely enriched by believing so it is a win win really.
My view is that we all have a seed (can t think of a better word), which we can either nurture by opening ourselves up and exploring more deeply, or we can ignore it.
aquestion - I don t think you can force yourself to believe, but I think a desire, an open mind ,and perhaps a bit of exploring are a good start.
My thoughts are with you both.

Don't be sorry, it's a good discussion point. Leadership (I'm thinking of this as priests/ministers/etc.) is well beyond what I think I could accept at this point, so very interesting to hear others pov on it. I actually spoke with a minister yesterday and left wondering: Do you need leadership? I understand that organized religion as a structure does, but in order to simply have faith, is it necessary? Yesterday's experience, which could be summarized as "Don't question anything, just listen to me preach at you and accept it without inquiring about anything" definitely didn't encourage me at all. :( If I can't question something, or am expected to blindly accept the non-answers I got yesterday, I'll definitely never get there.

I literally LOL @ socks and sandals though! Can I ask Springy, how did you manage to reconcile it, if you were aghast?

Thanks tuffie, and that is a lovely post btw.