Is this a reasonable supposition in the case of a god, though?
Okay - a person's individual religious experience might not be verifiable by anyone else, but why would the existence of a god not be verifiable by other means? If we're talking about the intelligent creator of the universe who is causing everything to unfold according to his divine plan, then his fingerprints should be all over the place.
I can think of a few reasons. Maybe if there is a God he doesn't wants to limit his intrusiveness. Maybe God wants life for the most part to develop on its own. Maybe God wants life to reach the limit of it's capability on it's own as much as possible and steps in only to prevent it from completely destroying itself.
Really? I thought you were saying otherwise.
What I'm saying is a person has to deal with the reality of the reality they experience. I don't know the reality of your experiences, so I don't know how reliable your claims are. I may consider them. However I still am left trusting the reality of what I've experienced for myself. In the same sense I'd expect you and any one else to trust what they've experienced for themselves then my claims about reality.
Depends on the god in question.
Yes, what do we know about God. Assuming one exists, I think not much really. We again rely on our own experiences or people do trust Prophets. I wouldn't without having a good reason to. But people do. Prophets say God is like "whatever" such as in the Christian Bible. Ok, Christian believe these Prophets had authority. I don't think it's a good idea to rely on that authority or any authority without question.
The first step in answering that question probably depends on how the person hypothesizing a god answers questions "what do you mean by 'god'?" and "how do you know it's a god?"
And by that second one, I mean something more than "I had a religious experience." Presumably, if we're allowing the possibility that gods exist, then we have to allow for other possibilities as well... for instance, that there might exist non-god things that could appear to a person, elicit a religious/mystical experience and say "Hi! I'm God!" but be lying. The person hypothesizing that their god exists is also implicitly claiming that their god can be (and has been) distinguished from such a non-god thing.
Yes those things are true. As with any experience our lack of knowledge/understanding allows us to be screwed with.
I could tell you this was intentional but there is no reason for you to accept that. So first assuming there is a God. This is the reality as you stated it, yes? And I agree. It must be intended to be that way.
You really shouldn't trust anyone IMO when it comes to stating facts about God. Except maybe someone you've found good reason to put your faith in. That's a personal choice and depends on your personal experience.
A problem I think is man is way to trusting. It's in our nature to want to trust. I'm not saying you shouldn't trust at all though. Just one should really consider whether that trust is justified.
But back to the topic. Faith is veneration. Because we are ignorant, about God in this case, putting your faith in a teacher is a crap shoot. People have to get really good at identifying with that faith has been misplaced.
Unfortunately people get stubborn about it. They don't like to admit even to themselves they've been fooled. Maybe it is easier to give up on having faith altogether then risk being betrayed again?
I've been betrayed, misled etc... to the point where I expect it. However I've also found a few genuine teachers. Each one can teach you a little bit more. Then it's time to fine the next one, and you maybe screwed again. But, you learn and learn how to better guard yourself. So there's a benefit to even the false teachers.
Bottom line in this spiritual stuff is you have to trust yourself. If it doesn't smell right then there is probably a reason for it. Anything that seems wrong to you then you are probably right to question it.
When you lack knowledge you find a teacher and hope for the best. God, if there is one, wants it this way for some reason.
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