At at the same time, well-reasoned atheists present convincing arguments that all religious belief is nonsense.

How CAN this be?

This site takes an ongoing look at whether level of spiritual development can explain any of the mysteries mentioned above. Also, it explores whether it is spiritual development that determines whether a person follows a religion at all. Surely it is not the case, as some types of preachers would have you believe that all good people believe and all those who don't are bad.

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The various pages on this site explore writings of the many experts I have come across whose work addresses the religious belief issue as it is influenced by spiritual development. Some of these experts are academics, some are popular writers. One is even an ancient religious mystic! Their fields of study include the psychology of religion, spiritual development stages, spiritual growth, personality types, religious diversity, faith journeys, mysticism, fundamentalism and religious tolerance.

My basic premise is that with all these different explanations, at the very least we should admit there are no clear answers. With no definite answers, there is no reason to disparage the beliefs of someone who just happens to differ from us.

By keeping an open mind and allowing in new data as it becomes available, we can hope to broaden our understanding. Even if we never solve the puzzles such as: "What causes religious belief?" "Does god even exist?" during this lifetime, the greater perspective that flows into an open mind from a constant influx of ideas should at the very least increase our tolerance and compassion for those who believe differently from us. There can be no harm in that!

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If you have a REASONED viewpoint or access to some research that could deepen our perspective here, please get in touch!