First, let's define God as the thing which represents the divine to us mere mortals - in Platonic terms the ideal form of a human.

Next, let's consider that the appeal to a higher authority is one of humankind's strongest, albeit logically flawed, arguments. The concept of God is a very useful thing in a parent's or governmental type ruler's arsenal.

Finally, realize that the world is positively crawling with people and we've GOT to get along to have any kind of peaceful existence.

So, God is very real.

He is the concept of something better than myself to which I aspire to become like, knowing that I will fail but recognizing that the closer I get to this ideal, the better a human I will be.

He is the measure by which you reflect upon your life on your deathbed so that you can die peacefully, knowing you have led a "good" life.

He is the example by which you pattern your behaviour governing interaction with other humans.

He is present in every culture and every civilization since time began. He is at once a creation of our own invention and more than any of us could ever be.



I could have written just that, verbatim.