This is something that has bothered me the greater part of my life... so chances are writing a blog post about it isn't going to change much. But here goes.
Death and God share nearly the same epistemological quality. Put another way: people only demonstrate how full of shit they are when they speak of certain knowledge about either.
There is, by definition, no one alive who has any experience of death, (dying is another matter), and the same is true - by definition - of God.
This just goes another step to demonstrate that the entire history of the West is based on pompous arrogance; we can't help but share in it, since it's our heritage. The only exception to this are those rare individuals who recognize that the creed is only validated by its function. You don't need to have first-person experience of God for "do unto others as they would do unto you" to be (potentially) beneficial or meaningful. It's beneficial, or not, based on its practical application.
By that yardstick, let me tell you, I'm not putting Pascal's "smart money" on a Jainist God, that's for sure.
When it comes to "knowing God," or any transcendental experience, all I can say for certain is that the mirror can be tinted or warped any number of ways- that doesn't change the fact that the face staring back at you is your own.
Guess this is why I generally don't open my mouth about religion. I don't know - and neither do you.
