I thought that Palmer's conclusion to
chapter 5 was really insightful and
interesting. I especially found his
reference to "reasons of the heart" in
validating religious beliefs to be
refreshing. He said that the definition of
"reason" may be too confining and that
there are "reasons of the heart" also. I
think this is a really good way to look at
religion. Sometimes it's hard, with the
enormity and vastness of different
religious beliefs, to understand how
someone could believe in something we
may find outrageous. In my opinion, I
can't logically reason that there is a
god(s). Can anyone prove the existence
of god using reason? No, at least not
definitively. But if we go into a totally
different spectrum of reasoning, such as
"reasons of the heart," god and religion
could make sense. I don't think people
believe in god because they rationalize
his existence. They obviously believe in
god because they simply want to.
Personal reasons explain religion. God
represents different things for different
people. For some, maybe it makes the
world a little less lonely. Maybe it
encompasses all the things that
someone needs to believe in just to get
through the day. I don't know... just a few
thoughts. What I do think that I know is
that there is, at present, no real rational
evidence of the existence of a god. There
are certainly reasons of the heart, though.