Well there seems to be three distinct ways of looking at God, and only two of them is the God-of-the-gaps:
- God-of-the-true-gaps: "he created the Universe", "he created life on Earth", "he gave us consciousness, intelligence, and free will", "he removed the cancer of a woman who had a picture of Mother Teresa", "the world is so complex that it must be intelligently designed", etc.
All these are examples of not-yet-understood or poorly understood phenomena that are attributed to God. Nobody knows, therefore God.
- God-of-the-false-gaps: "he makes the tides go in and out", "he makes the sun rise", "he made humans, because evolution is just a theory", "he made the Sun and Moon", "he made me win my football game", "an image of how I think virgin Mary looked like appeared on my toast", etc.
All these are examples of scientifically well understood phenomena that many still think are mysterious. Many grossly underestimate how much science actually knows. I personally do not know, therefore God.
- God-because-it-would-be-nice: "he gives meaning to my life", "I need something to believe in", "he gives me comfort when I think about death", "he gives me comfort in hard or dangerous phases of my life", "he gives me the feeling that someone is listening to me and understands me", "I've spent 50 years believing, so if I stop now it'll be like admitting that I've been wrong all these years, so it's better to keep believing", "I believe because my parents and grandparents believe", "I really need this to deal with life", etc.
All these are non-explanations as to a good reason to believe ("proof") God actually exists, but gives a good insight into the real reason why many feel the need to believe in something. It reminds me of Sam Harris' example of a man believing that there is a diamond the size of a refrigerator buried in his garden. When asked why he believes that, he replies: "the belief that the diamond is there gives meaning to my life", "I really need to have hope that there is a diamond buried in my back yard", "every Sunday the entire family digs for the diamond and it's a great nice tradition which has been done for generations", "I feel the diamond within, so in a way, we find it every time we dig for it", etc. It comforts me, therefore God.
