Where Faith Comes From in the "moderate" Christian religions

I agree. There are people who may have begun their belief because of their parents/culture/tradition/etc, but continue to believe for no other reason than that they want to. For a while in middle school, I was sort of in this group. I liked the idea of a parental figure in heaven who would watch out for me, and more importantly, a way for me to continue to "live" or be aware after death. As I got older, I realized that my wanting it doesn't make it so, and even though I am deeply uncomfortable with the idea that at some point, I'll just cease to exist or be aware of anything, I never the less believe that is the case. This is a bad argument because every one knows that a playoff system is the one TRUE path and anything else is just empty tradition. Edited by Perdition, : spelling is very important...

I haven't had one either, but I was there shortly after my cousin had one. He explained it as a sense of euphoria and acceptance of everything, and he swears it wasn't caused by any drugs or anyhting external to his body. He said he could easily see how a person with a religious mind set could have felt it as the poresence of god, but being an atheist, he viewed it more as an example of the complexity of beauty of the human mind/body.These sort of transcendental experiences are rare, but seem to be hardwired into our brains, either through some as yet unknown benefit, or through a misfiring or miscommunication in the brain, akin perhaps to deja vu. The rarity of the experiences, and the peace it gives, grant the experience something mystical, magical, or otherwise mysterious. As pattern seekers, we try to quantify and describe these passing experiences and forever seek after them again by whatever means we find the most likely.