At its core,

[Savy]

Maybe that is your problem wuf, you know rather than everyone elses.

[wufwugy]

Maybe that is your problem wuf, you know rather than everyone elses.

I figured (hoped?) my comment about ego would spark this sort of response.

I don't know anything. I question everything all the time constantly. I do this to such a degree that I am confused regarding the deepest elements of my being (as probably are most people of themselves). The ego is not something I contend with uniquely; the struggle with ego appears to lay at the core of human interaction with itself and the world. Religions (pretty much all of them) appear to exist as a way to deal with this issue. In Christianity it's interpreted as discarding the ego sufficiently enough to submit oneself to the will and morality of God; in eastern religions it's closer to something like discarding the ego sufficiently enough that one embodies the Way.

I venture a guess that a core theme of Christianity, fear of God, has stood the test of time due to more effectively instilling in people humility such that the teachings of Christian morality more often overrides their egocentric views. In a way, themes of Christianity, like Hell, Heaven, sin, etc., may actually be a "trick" that directs adherents away from confusion regarding their place in the world and away from the dominance of the ego.

That which I was referring to regarding my ego is that I have spent so much time and energy uplifting reason and rationality that I'm not sure I can accept any answer that doesn't adhere tightly to that ideal. Yet reason and rationality provide no answers on the fundamental issues of living. What are the answers that religion provides? Well, something along the lines of "we've been doing this for a very, very long time. Just have faith." Is that an answer? According to reason, not really. The funny thing is that it appears to be the best answer that anybody has come up with. Even science is predicated on base assumptions.

The point I intended with "my vast ego" is that anything I believe must be founded in reason. Perhaps it is the case that the man who believes this has turned himself into a god. Getting out of that trap.....hoo boy....