Why do you believe? Is it because you've been brought up to believe or have you had some kind of experience?

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I just don't get it. It's a load of mumbo-jumbo, might just as well believe in fairies. So what makes you believe in god/gods? Would love to know.

This thread has slid into name calling. The OP asked why we believed and that is a difficult question to answer. It is not helped by being called 'brain damaged' or people calling themselves 'morons'
God does not need us defending Him. If He exists at all (and I believe firmly He does) then He should not need us to rationalise Him. If we could He wouldn't be much of a God at all.
He does not need to justify Himself. Bad things happens to good people and the worst thing of all (crucifixion) happened to the best person of all (Jesus). It's up to every individual to decide whether to live life according to Christian principles or not. God is not going to make you, not all atheists are run over by a bus, there are loads of good atheists and bad Christians. The Christian life is no picnic, no guarantee that nothing bad will ever happen to you. It does mean that you need not be alone with your misery. I believe that I am not committing intellectual suicide by being a Christian and although I willingly share my faith with anybody who asks, I do not feel the need to apologise for being a Christian.

yeah, sorry about that Dutchoma, reacted with more snark than necessary.

Compassion and empathy are actually rational: if we are co-operative with other people they will be co-operative with us. Romantic love is a bit more of an invention, like religion.

I was being flippant rather than savagely abusive, as well (though I am always amazed at the number of otherwise intelligent people who persist in having these imaginary friends which they declare are benign and wonderful and yet touchy and petulant, all powerful yet at a loss to stop earthquakes etc...). The religious could just as easily argue that the rational are 'brain-damage' ie whether or not a person believes in stuff for which there is no evidence does seem to depend on brain-wiring rather than what a person is told.

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Bloss, what was the historical evidence that made you turn to Christianity?

BLoss: While there is, I have heard, historical evidence of there being a lot of 'prophets' around at the time, and some being more popular than others, and indeed one of them being called Jesus Christ (ie Jesus Christ existed and was executed and had lots of follwers), what historical evidence is there of anything supernatural?

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Sorry Bloss but none of that counts as evidence. Archeological evidence that places existed is one thing - and was never in any dispute: you can;t have archeological evidence of (for instance) someone being raised from the dead. And books written thousands of years ago and translated several times don't count as evidence of anything anyway: unless you can read/speak Aramaic fluently you have no idea if what you are reading is what might have been intended by the person/people who wrote it 2000 or so years ago or might be a whim or prejudice of a translator. The obsession with Mary's virginity is questionable as the Aramaic word seems to have meant 'young woman' without the loaded sexual connotations, according to some translators. What constitues the modern Bible is a selective editing of various old documents anyway (it's too late at night to be exactly accurate about this but some 'books' of the bible have been disputed as being part of the same myth cycle by some scholars; Revelation for one, and there are theories/studies which suggest great chunks of stuff that was written around the same time got left out along the way).

And what on earth do you mean about Christianity not being spread 'at the point of a sword'? Christianity has long been a myth system imposed by conquering armies. The Europeans who conquered America imposed Christianity by means of violence.

ALso, Bloss, there is a lot of historical documentation around Mohammed, the prophet of Islam. How come you picked Jesus and not him for your historical figure/conduit to imaginary friend?

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Bloss: Why should I want to 'keep looking' when what happened miles away thousands of years ago has no relevance to me? I quite like mythology and have read plenty, and am aware of the historical background to many myth systems. But that doesn't make them anything other than myths.
As to the spread of one myth system in a certain time frame: one factor in Christianity';s spread was some of its early proponents good PR skills I assume. There seems to have been a lot of simply absorbing local traditions into 'Christianity' ie telling people they could carry on doing whatever they were doing but just call it a different name: but the propaganda always got backed up by violence sooner or later. It was mainly down to the Romans, one or two of whom were sharp enough to realise that monotheism is a better weapon of conquest than pantheism.

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Atheist when younger but searching.

Tried out paganism, Buddhism, and then got baptised as a Christian. Other religious influences being a Muslim best friend as a teenager.

At the heart of them is that there's something bigger than us and that you will be rewarded if you lead a good life and do good to others.

Basically I'm a practical Christian! Christianity gives me an instant community and framework within which to do good deeds, and a weekly+ way of reminding myself about being a good person.

Unfortunately, Christianity can be kind of heavy on orthodoxy, personally, I think it's better to lead a good life than to believe. In that respect I prefer the New Testament over the Old!

Also, atheists in this country, because of the influence of Christianity, believe that believing is what is ultimately important in a religion so I am not a "good" Christian, or maybe even a "proper" Christian. But from my experience of other religions, and from recently studying them, living in a way compliant with the teachings of your religion is perfectly acceptable.

No, I don't believe in a humanoid God, especially not the very human God of the Bible. I don't believe the books of the Old and New Testament are without bias as they were written by men (at least in the majority of worldly New Testaments)... some especially fond of rules, yes you Paul.

But I believe there's something out there/in here (let's not overlook the often overlooked Holy Spirit) that wants us to live good lives and to love each other and to come to that understanding ourselves through our own experiences.

Unfortunately, people will use/hijack any religion and ideology for their own ends... their own ends usually being to gain/maintain power.

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Brought up without religion. Never really gave it much thought. Married a Catholic. Did the RCIA course. Have never been more convinced that Christianity and in fact all religion is a load of absolute codswallop. I'm now a confirmed atheist.

Well isn't that just the crux of the matter. It all depends on how you read it and what you get from it... as many different types of Christianity show.

And I did say rules not laws, they are seperate words for a reason!

But I am really uninterested in getting into a discussion about belief, especially one that is centred around an "I'm right and you're wrong" mindset. My beliefs are mine, they are not The One Truth!! If it's an issue I should imagine God will have it out with me, but so far, since I was baptised, my life has been getting better and better and I am helping more people.

What I am saying is nothing new btw, I mean there are many flavours of Christianity in the world!

It always amused me how many people think that their imaginary friend and particular myth system are the Truth - in the face of, er, no evidence whatsoever.
Deities were invented by human beings: the bigger pantheons used to explain the natural world (every stone, pool, hill, sunrise had a deity) the monotheistic myths being far more about conquest and social control.
But it still amazes me that otherwise rational people can take seriously the idea that there is this all-knowing all-wise all-powerful Thing which is also petulant, insecure and psychotically malicious (you have to tell it it's wonderful otherwise it will kill you...)

Summat - by my reckoning, if you believe in the in-dwelling Holy Spirit, and try to live your life according to Jesus teachings, then you count as a Christian. (Though I'm not sure how far my recommendation counts, as I think a few round here have doubts about me)

SGB - well, if the God that I believed in was petulant, insecure and malicious, I would agree with you on that. But I don't believe that God kills or punishes anyone for not believing, or requires us to believe or worship. The God that I believe in wants us to enter into a relationship - is that such a terrible idea?

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Hallo All

Brought up with Presbytarian christianity, but it did not connect with me in any way that I recall as a child. My siblings have no interest in Spirituality in any form, rather I would describe them as pragmatic doers. I have explored various faiths - I feel my interest in Spirit is personality based, I am drawn to the questions and the experience that Spiritual exploration has provided me as an adult.

I believe in "other dimensional realms" - there are obviously, in humanity lots of names, labels for those realms and ways to access Spirit / Energy. Rather than choose one Path, I believe in being Open and Feeling to All forms of Spirituality.

I have had alot of different types and levels of experiences, they are shaped around my own development, values, mindset, emotions at the time. Static, playing with Energy and watching others tap into Energy, influencing electricity. The presence of Spiritual "creatures" . Spiritual confirmations, affirmations, personal ones and experiences from other humsna, from very deeply Religious people to people with Universal open forms of Spiritual Ways. My boyfriend goes to Church, I go with him sometimes, but its not my Way being someone who chooses to be multi Way in my own Truths. Truth is there are many many ways to experience Beliefs, Spirit, faeries in the garden... there are the pragmatic personal empowerment paths, NLP...

I believe more in what °I feel and experience. I have stepped away from trying to verse myself in too much reading, analytical justications for the existence of Spiritual form. To have experience, a step away from books while holding onto to the book mark. The mind, body and spirit balancing.

Gotta go to Work!! Might come back and post again, but Life is a pretty Now time for me these days

but one more thing, the comment about the Sword and Victory. Heard someone say that Happiness is Victory. Personal Victory that is, not Conquer Victory. The inner Sword of your personal determination, measured by inner peace and Graceful attitudes to others.

beansmum "I experience a presence which I describe as God, but I suspect most athiests do too and manage to ignore it or explain it away"

That's the biggest load of crap, I'm afraid. Maybe you'd like to think that's how people who are atheists behave, but really, it's not.

This is the eternal problem with people who have a faith - they can't see outside that faith an so you get this "all about me" (or "all about my god") mentality.