Interesting comments, especially the part about thinking for yourself. A lot of people use the "think for yourself" argument against those who believe God's Words, but those same people do little or no checking of their own assumptions that the Bible is wrong or irrelevant. (Not that this is what you're necessarily doing.) How conceited do you have to be to believe that an omnipotent force (i.e. God) created an entire universe just for humans? Someone would have to be pretty conceited to believe that. That belief also goes against everything the Bible teaches. One good verse on the subject is found in Revelation 4:11, "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for Thou hast created all things , and for Thy pleasure they are and were created." In reference to your comparison of religion and cults, most of what you said is right. However, someone who properly believes the Bible does not take the word of a human. He is believing the words of the God who wrote them. Also, laws in general (and their punishment) are for our own good. If there were no laws, a lot more people would be hurt by the resultant anarchy or the natural consequences of their actions. I despise brainwashing as well, but convincing myself of the truth by studying surely isn't brainwashing. As for placebo effects and proof of the Bible. It is conceited (accidentally in your case, I hope) to assume that you know enough to say that someone else's conclusions are based upon emotions, ungrounded facts, or teachings that they have not researched for themselves. (I realize that you weren't talking to any one person.) I personally have done a lot of study on the validity of the Bible. It is a truly amazing and unique book. There is no possibility of a "bunch of drunken mathematicians" putting it together "as a joke about the reason things are the way they are". Why? The 66 different books were written by some 33 different authors over a period of a few thousand years. It would be rather difficult for them to collaborate with each other, but the things taught in one book by one author are also taught in other books written by different authors. Every prophecy in the Bible has either come true, or the event has not yet occurred, and none of the things taught by the Bible have been proven wrong. Together, those form strong evidence for the truth of the Bible since no person, group, or other book can validly claim that (at least according to my studies). (BTW, archeology has shown that these p