aletheakatharos

I think everyone would like to say they base their beliefs solely on facts, but it seems there are myriads of reasons why people believe as they do. So besides facts, what emotional or personal reasons contribute to your beliefs?

I'll go first! I believe in God because I have had several experiences that impacted me emotionally and made me feel like God is real. It may be placebo effect or might even be made up, but it shaped my perception of God and its impact is unmistakable.  My faith has helped me get through several difficult things in my life and helped me become a better person who contributes to society. I initially adopted the faith of my parents, but in recent years I have focused on forming my own beliefs and opinions separate from them. So if I was to bypass the old debate on God's existence, I would say my personal and emotional reasons lie in how my faith influenced my life experiences.

Side note: I'm a psych major so I love learning about why people act and react the way they do. I don't really want to beat a dead horse and regurgitate old debates, I would like to have an interesting and open discussion that helps me learn more about why people believe what they do.

I grew up in an ultra conservative bubble where I believed women should not vote, work outside the home, or go to college. I wore skirts down to my ankles and my social life was exclusively church or people who believed just like me. I had no access to the internet until I was 17 years old, and so I had zero exposure to pop culture or basic children's movies. For example, I did not know who Elvis was until I was 19. Joining DDO in like 2014 was a crash course in the world for me. I left it about four years ago because it was dying and I recently found this site hoping that reading other people's opinions will help me grow further.