I feel as though I am torn by believing strongly in a higher power and not believing in anything supernatural. I think about the functions that religion fulfills in people's lives. I feel a lot of cognitive dissonance. I realize that science and faith are two different things. I know they don't have to be mutually exclusive. I sometimes envy those people who seem to know with absolute certainty that God does or does not exist. It just seems sometimes that I've heard the argument for a person's particular religion being the "right" religion as being because that is how they have been "raised". Of course that begs the question, how does anybody who is objective about things know that one way is the only way (like through Jesus) when so many other people ended up believing differently than me just because they were born in a different part of the world. So, where is the justice and good in condemning people who are "the others" to eternal suffering? My best way of handling it has been to not judge others and to accept the possibility I may be proven wrong when I die. But can true faith exist alongside any doubt? I just accept Christianity in a spiritual way. I think regardless of the validity of Christianity or other faith, I want to be careful to not get caught up in formal religious institutions since in many cases they tend to be dens of hypocrisy and self-righteousness. There is no denying that although religion has had good effects on people and society, it also has had disturbing, fear and guilt invoking overtones. I know I can't be someone who just blindly sticks to my view on things despite an abundance of real evidence to the contrary, e.g. believing in the Bible, the Koran, etc. and having political views that are diametrically opposed to such a view. I try to just follow my conscience on what's right and accept a personal faith. The difference between one's spirituality/religion and science is that one is based on a "leap of faith", whereas the other is based on empirical evidence. In my opinion, one in their "right mind" cannot see the earth as round and yet believe it is flat. Yet the existence of God is based on faith since nobody can prove whether God exists or not. Therefore I cannot say that someone is wrong to believe in the supernatural as long as it doesn't contradict reality. Thanks to anyone who took the time to read about my 4 am, can't go to sleep, deep thinking.