I agree that, in any objective sense, God doesn't exist outside of the human mind. But there is the rub -- the way I experience my own existence is largely thr

I agree that, in any objective sense, God doesn't exist outside of the human mind. But there is the rub -- the way I experience my own existence is largely through my own mind. Sure, sometimes I'm aware of senses like physically feeling a texture, or smelling or tasting food. But, say, approximately 90% of the time I experience the world through my thoughts and emotions and whatever else would fit into the rough category of "mind". So it's easy to get confused. Like I said, I don't really believe in God, but I also don't want to throw out the baby with the bathwater, as it were. Spirituality and religion are still very powerful forces in people's lives, and are interesting subjects of study. For example, I have found Buddhism and mindfulness meditation to be especially helpful in my life. But the benefits have come from more than an academic study -- it has required actually meditating and struggling with ideas and changing. I think that it's important to study them in an academic sense, and also really dive in and live the experience. Ideally there is a sensible balance between the two extremes. I guess that this post was more of a way for me to share that I'm not a strict atheist, like it seems a lot of people are here on HN. I think there is a lot of valuable discussion and understanding still to be gleaned from the topic. If I had to sum it up in one sentence I'd say: "God doesn't exist, and God doesn't exist in a really interesting way"