.....BUT WHAT IF GOD DOES NOT EXIST?

The current erosion of faith and religious practice has affected me more than I had previously expected. When I was younger, I would never allow myself to even think about the possibility that God does not exist. As I have gotten older and experienced the world on a much larger stage, I am constantly confronted with the question of whether God exists or not. It does not help to have an old friend who claims to be an atheist. My argument with her usually ends with me saying, "You may be right, but it is pretty arrogant not to believe in something most of the world has believed in, in one form or another, going back centuries and centuries! 

The quote above from Voltaire (1694-1778), a French Enlightenment philosopher and critic of religion, may have solved my problem. Even if God does not exist, I would choose to continue living as if God does exist because I would still want for myself what God would want to give me if he did exist. I believe from years of living out my belief in God's existence that my belief has made me a happier human being and has led me to be a more authentic human person - something I expect that I would never have experienced as a non-believer. 

With the erosion of faith and religious practice, I have seen and experienced a decline in honesty, truth, respect and general care for others as well as the planet on which we live. With the erosion of faith and religious practice. I have seen and experienced a rise in greed, selfishness, dishonesty, disrespect and lack of concern for and general  care for others, as well as the planet on which we live. If God did not exist, our survival as individuals and as a plant might depend on our inventing Him. 

I find great comfort in knowing from my belief in God that I am not the center of the universe, that there is something bigger than me and that I have an unbroken connection to those behind me, those here with me and those in front of me. Personally, I guess it finally comes down to this, as Blaise Paschal put it below, that I would rather live like I believe in God just in case there is a God, rather than live like there isn't a God and find out some day, when this is over, that there is a God! 

For those who argue that I could be a good humanist without believing in God, I would respond. "Yes, I guess I could, but what or who would motivate or inspire me to be a "good" humanist? What or who would prevent me from becoming a selfish "every dog for himself" narcissist?"