well~! I finally open this thread and find myself being used as an example! *tsk*..Mick!

You know, having been ^{up to here} in theories of religion and philosophy for many years, I guess I have a bit of an odd outlook compared to many of you. The very phrase " believing in something that is greater than ones self" causes me to start down thru a maze of thoughts.

It's not exactly that I disagree that there is something "greater than myself", but I really don't know what that means! (Not "don't know what it IS", but really..."don't know what that means!") If you read my 734 or so posts on matters like this, you'll note that I NEVER claim to 'know' that there is no 'supreme being'...it is just something that is not, by definition provable in the strict use of 'prove'.
All I can say is that, lacking proof, I choose not to buy into the enormously complex set of contradictory belief structures that mankind has woven. Life is bewildering, amazing, interesting, scary, wonderful...and infinite in its complexity. It doesn't, (to me) need a cause, a designer, a creator...etc...If one shows up, in a way that leaves **NO** doubt, I should like to ask him/her/it some pointed questions...but if not, I will ask other questions of myself and my friends about how to live well whether we ever have a definitive answer.

   I don't expect some of you to ever think like I do, as we all have different emotional needs and different ways of expressing them...some in metaphor, some in absolutes...and some just in more questions.

I do have personal opinions about how it all 'works', but since humans have the ability to reflect on their own existence (now THERE'S the amazing part!), they have the ability to create a universe of Gods in their own image...they just don't agree on the details.

Nietzsche, in "Zarathustra", said, "...and one old greybeard of a god stood up and said, I am the Lord, your God! Thou shalt have no other gods before me ...and all the other gods died laughing.."

It makes a certain kind of point....