I am not unkind Elvis. But I am not stupid either and I, just like you, don't appreciate being treated that way repeatedly. Considering this forum, it's just another attempt of dumbing down equivalent to the bad dentistry that brought us all here in the first place. This is a difficult discussion due mostly to the fact that some people incessantly present tidbits of information about things they have heard tidbits about and incessantly demand their viewopints are more legitimate than anyone elses, or that others' experiences are invalid.

If, just once, they offered true testimony about firsthand experience in their own search for God it would make a huge difference, that is what this thread is about from the get go. But that doesn't happen, they offer only opinions and ideas based simply on what they 'think' they know, never perceiving that their bias against any other thought is clear as day from the standpoint of an observer on the receiving end. They often seem to assume that belief in God is equivalent to ignorance, even though often having somewhat of an agnostic belief in God themselves.

I have told you a bit of my experiences of my search for God, who I did find, or rather, who found me. You can laugh, that's great, and also useless. But throwing little tidbits you've gleaned on the net or in some book at me or others in the same position as though it's going to be meaningful is like offering me a dollar for my life... kind of gross really.

Considering everything, I really don't consider myself that smart, and that is one of the main reasons I need God. I do realize the pitifulness of my own human condition. I am, however, well aware of ignorance that parades as brilliant superiority and truly, I do hate it. That one attitude has probably caused more death, destruction and suffering on this earth than any other and I am surprised to see it being repeatedly relied on here by people who have themselves suffered and are quite ill due to it.

It's nice to hear your opinion Elvis. But opinions are not the same as true knowledge of anything. They are only ideas that feel right at the moment, and can change at any time given other factors that are sure to present themselves. Self-deception may enable you to retain any opinion but it will never help anyone perceive truth. Each and every one of us, in order to move forward and make progress, must first acknowledge our mistakes and ignorant beliefs and desires that bind us to that self-deception and likewise, blind us to truth.

A thorough study of any religion, including Christianity, will teach you the traditions and beliefs of those who follow it, but it not ever help you find God, who you must seek yourself if you actually desire to. God does not live in a book, even the bible, though it may be his word, it still is not him. My search for God in the books and ways of other spiritual thought led only to confusion and a house full of demons, so to speak and I do sincerely warn anyone from heading that direction as I once did, being oh so very educated. It was Jehovah and Yeshua Hamshiach that rescued me from that, there is only one God that saves souls, the rest, so-called, destroy, and it is not just an opinion, I am quite sure about it.