RELIGION FOR LAZY PEOPLE:

5 Quick Reasons to Believe in God–and 1 Reason Not To

We know that God, so defined, knows all and can do all. But God has a way of not showing up the way someone does to teach a class or keep an appointment. Still, there are five reasons to believe God exists. 

1. Insurance. This is an old idea from the philosopher Pascal. If God doesn’t exist and you believe in God, you’ve lost nothing. If God does exist and you believe God does, you get to Heaven. Insurance with a free premium payment. 

2. Regularity. Sure, the sun and moon and stars don’t move with total regularity, but…close enough. Most things are predictable. If you plan to go to the store, you’ll likely get there. Someone must be in charge. God? 

3. Heroism. You can go to the web and find countless stories of personal sacrifice and bravery. God must be dwelling in these fine folks.. 

4. Dewdrops. If you think anything in Nature has God within, like a drop of dew, you’ll find them more lovely. A God-skunk is beautiful, even if it does smell. 

5. Brains. You are able to recall the past and guess the future, and yet the same brain processes make it possible for you to do either. Something else must be going on beyond neurons, and hey, that just might be God. There really is a ghost in the machine. 

One reason not to believe in God: Most of us, let’s be honest, want a personal God, one who cares about us in particular, knows our social security number, and worries about our vaping and drinking. There is as yet no proof of this God. And if you account on this God, you might neglect self-reliance. However there’s a way out: you can believe in an imperfect God–one that governs the Heavens but doesn’t have time to worry about your struggles with the price of eggs. Who says God has to be perfect? Your family and friends aren’t, but you like them anyhow.  

–Tom McBride (mcbridet@beloit.edu)