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firstly, recognize that 'evidence' is not the end-all of truth. at best, evidence points us towards the most likely reality, but it is not the same as Truth itself. The deepest truth you have is your own self-awareness, I think therefore I am. Beyond that, is anybody's guess.The next step is to consider 'what is god'. before you can decide whether god exists, you first need to define it. For example, if all you need is 'evidence', I can tell you that I believe the sun is a god and show you evidence of its existence. But I'm guessing you wouldn't accept that. So why not? Consider your reasons carefully. It's personal to each person, but I think it's safe to assume that it's not for lack of evidence, but for your expectation as to what a god must be for it to 'count'. For example, you might say there's no evidence of the sun being conscious, but consciousness is not necessarily a requirement for something to be a god. After all, requiring a god to be conscious makes it inherently unprovable, for how can you prove if something is conscious? :)I'd encourage you to consider the nature of god(s) before considering whether or not such a thing exists. You point out how there are tons of different religions and interpretations that disagree on what a god is or what it would want. You're not wrong. so why focus on the bad or vague definitions and dismiss the concept entirely? instead try to find a definition that seems most plausible to yourself. take it as an opportunity to explore the mind.god, at it's core, is at the very least, a concept. a tool, that you can use to better yourself or help you through life should you wish. so if you want to believe in one, find a definition that works for you. study it, tweak it, revise it, question it, fine tune it to help you be the person you want to be and to fit your expectations. i tend to be a pantheist of some kind because I think it's illogical to assert no gods exist, or to lack a belief in them. you might as well say you don't believe in beauty.hope this gives you something to chew over. i don't think it's wrong to expect great proofs for great claims. as for an afterlife, well, that's a whole nother level of subjectivity and uncertainty, but we tell ourselves all sorts of stories to help us cope with reality. if the thought of an afterlife is soothing to you, why not believe? for me personally, i like to think about what i would do if i were a god. obviously it's a weak premise to start with because i'm only human, but it helps me contextualize my desires and helps me consider reality from a more 'top down' perspective, rather than 'stuck in the middle'. honestly, asking 'what would i do if i were god' has probably helped me sort through things more than any other question. it's a great hypothetical. hope this helps. best of luck

I'm firmly of the opinion that most religions have their basis in mystical experiences.In every single case where someone has described having an "otherworldly experience" - they've had one of these mystical experiences. These experiences take many shapes or forms, but several common themes are a sense of Oneness, connection with a higher power, and entities. It doesn't matter if these experiences are "real" or not. Subjectively, they often tend to be more real than "reality," and the impact of the experience may well have a lasting impression on that individual's persona.These types of experiences have been going on for thousands - tens of thousands of years. And the leading way we've discussed them is through language. I don't know if you've ever noticed, but language is incredibly limited, despite all the amazing things we've accomplished with it. We are pretty much limited to topics where common ideas can be described through symbols. And misunderstandings abound. Ideas can be shared, and changed, but they're all based on common understandings - common experiences - even if these understandings may conflict at times.Imagery through art and music conveys what words cannot, but intertextuality and reader response criticism still limit the interpretation. For some, a painting may symbolize the unification between man and his maker, but for most it's just going to be a chick on a horse. And the same goes for music and texts.So people have had these mystical experiences since pre-history. Picture trying to describe a wooden chair to a man who has never seen trees, and has lived all his life where they sit on the floor. Try describing the sound of rain to a deaf person, or the patterns of a kaleidoscope to the blind. The inability for people to convey mystical experiences goes even further.Having our senses show us a world fundamentally different from what we're used to, language is momentarily found lacking. Having experienced the ineffable, one grasps for any semblance of similarity. This lead to the use of cultural metaphors. Frustrated by the inadequacy of words, one sought anything that could give a shadow of a hint at what was trying to be conveyed.Be it through drumming and dancing, imbibing something, meditation, singing - what have you - people have been doing these things forever in order to experience something else. As we narrowed down what worked, each generation would follow in their elders footsteps and take part in the eventual rituals that formed around the summoning of these mystical experiences. These initiations revealed the deeper meanings hidden within the cultural metaphors and the mythology they'd created. Hidden in plain sight, but only fully understood once you'd had the subjective experience necessary to see beyond the veil of language.The mythology that grew out of these experiences weren't dogmatic law, but guides for the people that grew with each generation. The map is not the path, and people were aware of this.The first major change to how we related to these passed down teachings was the fall of the ritual; those parts of the ritual that would give rise to the mystical experience. The heart of the ceremony was left out, and what remained - the motions, without meaning - grew rigid with time. The metaphors remained, but without the deeper subjective insights to help interpret them. Eventually all was left were the elder's words, a mythology that grew more dogmatic with each following generation. The only reality that exist is the one we have experienced and can imagine. As our reality is based upon the limitations of our perception of the world, so too are the teachings limited.Translations of these texts conflated and combined allegory with historical events, while politics altered the teachings for gain. Eventually we ended up here, where most major religions still hold that spark of the old ideas - but twisted to serve the will of man, instead of guiding him.Western Theosophy, Eastern Caodaism, and Middle Eastern Bahai Faith are a few practices that see the same inner light within all belief systems - Grown out of mystical experiences, but hidden by centuries and millennia of rigid dogma.As long as people continue to have mystical experiences - and we're hardwired for them - spirituality will exist. As long as people allow themselves to be beguiled into believing individuals are gatekeepers though which they'll find the answers to these mystical revelations, there will be religion and corrupting influences.So all religions with an origin in mystical experiences may be true, where the differences lie in the cultural metaphors used to explain the ineffable beyond our normal perception - without the tarnish of politics and control.If you want to discover the truths behind these faiths, you need to delve into the practices that brought on those beliefs. Simply adhering to scripture will only amount to staring at the finger pointing at the moon.

So sorry, that's the best I can do, through my learning, experiences and deduction, I proved to myself that God exists.

o give Osric Dane a false impression of her own standing in the club. She would hesitate at nothing to attract attention: we all know how she took in poor Professor Foreland.”

Listen.” Miss Van Vluyck had repossessed herself of the Encyclopaedia, and restored her spectacles to a nose reddened by excitement. “‘The Xingu, one of the principal rivers of Brazil, rises on the plateau of Mato Grosso, and flows in a northerly direction for a length of no less than one thousand one hundred and eighteen miles, entering the Amazon near the mouth of the latter river. The upper course of the Xingu is auriferous and fed by numerous branches. Its source was first discovered in 1884 by the German explorer von den Steinen, after a difficult and dangerous expedition through a region inhabited by tribes still in the Stone Age of culture.’”

“It’s a river.

Z; and a murmur of surprise when she said: “It isn’t here.”

Really, if the Lunch Club has reached such a pass that it has to go to Fanny Roby for instruction on a subject like Xingu, it had almost better cease to exist!”

you spoke of rites; and Mrs. Plinth said it was a custom.”

he other ladies had the mortification of hearing her say, in a voice which she did not take the pains to lower: “If you’ll let me walk a little way with you, I should so like to ask you a few more questions about Xingu....”

Osric Dane’s impassive features suddenly softened to an expression of the warmest human sympathy, and edging her chair toward Mrs. Roby’s she asked: “Did he really? And—did you find he was right?”

Mrs. Ballinger gathered courage to say: “Surely every one must feel that about Xingu.”

Mrs. Roby put down her liqueur glass and drew near the group with a smile. “In Xingu?” she gently prompted.

Mrs. Plinth so much disliked as being asked her opinion of a book. Books were written to read; if one read them what more could be expected?

“No one reads Trollope now,” Mrs. Ballinger interrupted.

I suppose she flattered him,” Miss Van Vluyck summed up—“or else it’s the way she does her hair.”

XINGU