I would argue that those who believe in god do so out of fear...fear of death, fear of the unknown etc.
What are some definitions of god?
To that child yes, and if someone told him the USA existed and he asked "why", and the other person said "just have faith that it exists",...he would be abandoning rational discourse in favor of faith if he chose to believe something with no verifiable proof other than someone elses word, no proof= not valid.
Would you believe someone that told you your mom was a murder just because they wrote a book about it and in that book they assured you they were telling the truth?
I found my way thanks.
To answer this, I need to generalize a little, so this isn't always the case, but generally:
Those that believe in God outta fear, have not found their way.
Those kind of believers are the kind that talk about spirituality, but don't know it, and try to apply it physically.
Those are the believers that ignore science and turn a blind eye to physical evidence because they take their messages litterally so anything that contradicts is viewed at as a threat to their faith - so to them science is a threat.
Those are the kind of believers that make me still against religion in some ways!
However many open minds found God through facing their fears, not from fear itself. By facing their fears they are able to live without worry or regret. And once a mind is free, no doubters can cause a free mind to doubt themselves.
I know I am capable of anything as long as I am motivated enough to put the effort in. Some things come more naturally then other things, so sometimes it takes lots of practrice to become successful.
Deffinitions of God varry from person to person, but I'll give you some metephores and some math:
As I said early I am the God of my own body. But in reality all living things with free will are the Gods of themselves.
This goes much bigger and smaller then what we understand.
We are God, we are a part of God, and we are all full of Gods!
Many scietists are still looking for how one came from nothing. But what most fail to recognize is that everything has 2 sides, even one.
0= 1+1
This math equation is one of the simmplest logical equations out there.
I think of Binary and I only care about the last 'switch'
1+1 in binary actually equals 10 but the 1 is a completely different system, I only care about our system, and the 0.
Getting 1 outta 0 without another 1 would require an inverter or a change in Gates for Boolean Logic - but getting 1 and 1 outta 0 is actually the most basic logical math we have available.
As for the child, so your saying to the child the USA wouldn't exist unless he blindly believed someone else, yet you fail to recognize that the USA does exist even if the child doesn't understand, see or even know of it. Things do exist that we are not always exposed to.
Would I believe someone that said my mom was murdered?
No but I'd want to know why someone would think such a thing, but at least this claim would be easily turned false as soon as I contacted my mom. If something had happened to her, then I'd be currious to what information and/or misinformation this book writer had. But your example is asking if I'd take someone elses word for something I know to be false. That is much different then finding something that others don't believe just because it isn't understood.