Bear with me for a few moments, try to keep up if you will. I understand some wont see the idea but that is life.
I have unfortunately allowed myself to become frustrated in this forum. I have gotten frustrated on numerous occasions over this idea of "evidence". When I post in this forum, despite my initial post, it always leads to "what is your evidence to believe what you believe?" Everything diverts back to evidence.
Yet when evidence is give, it is not enough. So a post goes up asking what exactly is enough to constitute evidence. The response is a general scientific method of 100% proof and accuracy before the idea can be entertained. After all, what intellectual lives without facts?
The problem comes, however, when you let this search for "hard 100% certain facts" into all of your life. If it has to be so completely undeniably proven to be accurate, must the rest of life be the same?
If we must base our religious belief on cold, hard, undeniable, with certainty, no doubts about it mindset, what is to stop you from applying this logic to other areas of life?
Are you married? Can I see the evidence (cold hard factual evidence that con not be disputed) that you used when deciding that this person, with complete and utter certainty-without any cause for dispute- would be the person that you could enter into a binding life long marriage that you share your lives. Is love really that cold that the feeling, the faith, that you love each other is not enough? If faith and love is not enough to believe in God, it certainly can't be enough to believe in love.
Or happiness. I need cold hard facts to know I am happy. I may feel happy but maybe I'm delusional? Feeling happy, experiencing happiness is not enough evidence to claim I am happy correct?
I see this logic applied to belief system but tell me, do you require as much "evidence" about everything in life?
I will respond tomorrow or Monday. I have been putting everything off today for far too long.
One thing I think which may help your frustration, is to realize
context and how "evidence" applies in context (and I'm using the term "evidence" loosely throughout this post).
Going off your own examples and using a hypothetical, you may be happily married to John Doe, but that doesn't mean other people would be. It doesn't even mean that, just because you two get along great, perhaps John Doe will get along great with everyone as well. He may loathe some people, and vice versa. Thus, the evidence you have in your life that you two make each other happy, etc ... may not apply for everyone else. It's PERSONAL to you and your situation, because of the components involved: John Doe is a person with his own personality, and your relationship is unique to you both. Even if John Doe shows up and testifies on your behalf, claiming everything you said about him and the both of you is true ... that is further supporting testimony that the both of you may actually be happily married, but again, not that others would get along with him or you, etc.
Now let's take an apple, and say an apple is sitting on your dining room table. What is the evidence you have an apple sitting on your dining room table ? You can produce the apple and show us. Thus, we don't need to rely on your testimony only. We can see for ourselves if you show us the apple and grant us access to your house, or whatever. Now, let's say we look on your table and there is only an apple stem and a few seeds. There is no longer an apple. Does this mean you lied ? Not necessarily ... the evidence MAY suggest that someone came along and ate the apple, leaving bits behind. It is evidence we can gather to draw a conclusion about what happened. It isn't a fact, but it's a possibility concerning your statement (claim) that there was an apple on your table.
However let's say you love apples ... that isn't evidence everyone will love apples. That is going from something that applies to all of us (whether or not there is an apple on your table) to something that may be unique to you, or a group of people. Those who like apples. Just because you like them, doesn't mean we all will. Furthermore, let's say some CANNOT eat them. Maybe they have allergies to them (like with strawberries, mangoes, etc). Thus there may be "evidence" you like them, but this doesn't apply to all people. It may apply to you personally. But in producing evidence the apple exists, it's another matter. That is something that we can hopefully all see for ourselves.
So now concerning "God" ... a lot of people speak about God as though everything that they believe applies to them, applies to everyone else also. They love God ? Others have to love God. They believe in God ? Others have to. God loves them ? He must love everyone else. He hates them ? He must hate everyone else. God is the God mentioned in the Judaeo-Christian scriptures ? That must be who God is. God is Zeus ? That must be correct. God is the devil ? That's it. God is Ra ? That applies to everyone.
If you are going to say something applies to everyone, and you want people to be able to see for themselves ... evidence. If you care if people see the apple for themselves and not just take your word for it, produce the apple. That is providing evidence. If you want people to only take your word for it, to not doubt you, etc ... for whatever reason ... you may not worry about providing evidence. Which brings us to DISTRUST ... there are lots of reasons people WITH-HOLD evidence. They don't want the truth to be known, they want people to think specific things, they want to hide something, control something. Maybe they have no evidence at all. Maybe they/themselves are deluded. Think through history at all the regimes, criminals, con artists, misguided, liars, cheats, etc who withhold truth and evidence in order to manipulate others or even themselves.
Furthermore, if you want people to find out for themselves whether or not they even WANT to know God, like God, etc ... you can only provide so much "evidence" for that. What your relationship is, will be different from another. Again the John Doe analogy. The taste of the apple. Some will not like the taste, others will. Some will get along with John, maybe better than you do lol ... others will not.
When believers bring up God, they are bringing up multiple issues: the existence of God is one thing, and the relationship of that "God" to people on an individual and a group level is another. If you are going to make statements that you may have very good reasons to believe apply to yourself, and make them concerning other people as though they apply to them also ... some people are going to want to question your assertions. On what are you basing them ? Where is your evidence ? Some will not be content to take your word for it. And all you need to do is look around the world and see the levels of ignorance and distrust that take place, because people in general don't always go about finding out the truth concerning things in helpful ways. Thus, critical thinking, asking questions, looking for evidence that we can recognize both individually and together ... those things help us to understand what is real and what isn't often.
This doesn't mean you don't take risks, use your imagination, trust and risk failing or falling, or being incorrect and having to reconsider what you thought was "true". It's not about 100% accuracy. It's not always about getting something 100% fool proof before taking a chance. For many it's about the WAY we got about LEARNING.
So if I were you, I would consider the way you are applying what you believe to be true ... when you are talking about yourself only, in regards to yourself, you may find less people ask for evidence of your claims. When you begin to talk about things that you believe apply to others ... get ready. And you probably do something similar in your day to day life, but you don't even consciously think about it or use those terminologies. When you go to the doctor, you want to know what's trustworthy. When you get paid, you expect to have actual money to be able to use. When someone says they'll be somewhere at a given time, you expect them there and vice versa. You may read labels at grocery stores. You may research topics in the news to educate yourself and form an opinion. You may distrust some, while trusting others. Etc.
