It seems obvious to me that there cannot be any way to prove or disprove the existence of a higher being. This is called Agnosticism. I however, do believe in a God; one single entity that created the universe.
Religion, however, seems like a practice that is overdone and boring. Should we not be able to praise Him in our own way? Did He not say that He loves each and every one of us equally, no matter what we have done or will do? That, to me, doesn't scream "Go to a church every Sunday and sing about me." I enjoy listening to some sermons, but they eventually get repetitive and redundant.
One could say that the Bible is proof of His existence, but the author himself is not God, nor is he singular. Each book in the Bible is written by a different person. Unless Jesus walks up to me and proves that he is Jesus the son of God, and that there is life after death, I will remain an Agnostic Christian.
I also believe that God created not only humanity, but other civilizations across the universe. Why would He only give life to us and make such a vast, lifeless place?
When you die, who knows what will happen. Life? Reincarnation? Nothing? Everyone will remain skeptic in one way or another until they either find out through life after death or they won't find out at all. Simple as that.
[Edited by yosup, 3/30/2011 7:42:50 AM]
I can understand this point of view, but it just seems hopeful to me. It can be hard to let go of the notion once you were raised with it though.
A lot of people say the fact we live is proof, but recent estimates state that there are 70,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars in the observable universe. Using the Drake equation, that puts up a lot of planets for the habitable zone. Science just seems a lot more confident to me, that and I don't feel uncomfortable about the lack of an afterlife.
The notion of Heaven/Valhalla/Mt. Olympus or whatever and Hel/Hell/Tarturus/Hades also seems unreasonably idealistic and also presents several paradox's.
[Edited by fault2k, 3/30/2011 2:34:57 PM]