I wonder how many people actually believe in God.  I imagine that the numbers are significantly lower than one might imagine.  Most people say they “believe in God” but what they really mean is that they ‘believe in the Existence of a God’ whatever that might mean.  In other words God is just a convenient noun construct based on social norms and unreflective beliefs.  Such belief offers no spiritual awareness and little personal development. 
To believe in someone you must spend time with that person.  I am sure that you believe in your children, friends, life partners etc.  This is only because you have spent significant time getting to know them.  All relationships develop and are maintained over time.  To believe in someone you must come to know that person personally, not just know about the person.  So too with God. 

I remember once speaking to a person who said she considered herself to be a  good Catholic and didn't need to come to church to prove that this was the case.  She didn't come to church but definitely believed in God.  She said the church was full of hypocrites so I informed her there was always room for one more.  “I don’t have to go to church to be a good person”  It was the usual  unreflective argument which I have heard a thousand times before.  In fact I totally agree with her statement which renders the justification for such a belief null and void. 

Significantly, when I asked her about her god she informed that her god is everywhere like a force within the universe.  I was reminded of Star-wars ‘may the force be with you.’  Her belief was a mixture of pantheism and panentheism, unreflective and based on a flawed sense of self-importance.   This force, she informed me, is in all things within the universe, so I asked her if her god was like electricity to which she seemed pleased with my grasping of her concept.  Funny I have never thought of worshipping electricity myself but everyone to their own. 

Why is there such a lack of reflection within our society when it comes to the spiritual?  Why is it that so many see religion as merely a moral construct rather than a personal meaning relationship with God?  Modern society has replaced GOD with GOOD using social justice as the framework for religious humanism. Nietzsche words seem more pertinent today that ever before:  “God is dead”  but what in God’s name have we replaced God with? 

 Do You Believe in God?