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To my knowledge, this question was first asked not by atheists but different religions. Does YOUR God exist was the original question, I would wager. It was all about establishing your religion as the one and only true one. And that could only be done by discrediting the other. With the use of logic and arguments...
Later on as science evolved, the thought that logic and reasoning alone began to arise and take hold within the scientific community. Anything that did not fit in the boundaries of reason, also began failing to fit in the boundaries of reality. And thus something as God which cannot be explained by reason and logic alone do to our inability to understand the concept as a whole, the question evolved. It became "Does God Exist?" And thus the "battle" between reason and faith began.
One side believed that you could prove everything with reason, logic and other evidence. If you couldn't prove it or explain it using those, it didn't exist and it wasn't real.
The other side of the argument believed that some things cannot be proven by reason and that a person must take a leap of faith. He must sincerely believe it to be true, to be true. To show a little faith, don't mind the pun.
So your question as to why we find religion/spirituality so important...
It's because we want to see what's more important, shear reason or faith...

I'm out of coffee, so if this is a bit unclear....

I don't find the question important at all. If other people didn't talk about it, I would never bring it up. So I don't know. I find it funny that religious people fret over questions that I dismissed when I was 5.

But the existence of God does not necessarily mean that our existence has any fundamental or profound meaning.

Actually the brain releases melatonin during darkness to induce sleep...also a reason some people have such problems with insomnia. Brain isn't releasing it

I guess, but in sticking on topic, is it truly necessary that to know "God loves us" for us to question his existance? Can't we question his existence despite not knowing that he doesn't love us?

The biggest example probably comes from the Old Testament and even before Old Testament times where the God portrayed was more wrathful. Then, there are things like animism, volcano gods and such.

I see what you mean. I suppose you could, but I doubt that as many people would be interested in the question. Indifferent Gods are quite unpopular these days, probably due to science. People seem to turn to a contemporary God for emotional and spiritual support.



If you want to bring God into the realm of physics then you will have to accept all of the consequences. Massless particles are restricted to the speed of light; they cannot slow down or speed up. So if God is 'massless' and created the universe and all its laws, then He has doomed Himself to travel at that velocity for all eternity. Furthermore, He would be unable to communicate with us at all. Massless particles do not pass through time, so God would never be able to communicate with us through prayer or mediation or whatnot; He would be forever frozen, unable to utter a syllable or perform a miracle. And if God is 'light' then he is a consequence of Quantum electrodynamics, and could not have created the universe.

Light, as you understand it, is massless. Because you've only dealt with radiation from the sun and the stuff that burns off of bulbs. But, just because that is one fraction of the truth, it doesn't mean all light is massless. God is not massless: He has a body of flesh and bone, much like you and I. And God isn't subject to time, either.
How do you think massless particles don't travel through time? Just curious, because I've heard of "light years," which implies light goes through time much like the rest of the universe. If it travels at 186,000 miles a second (300,000 meters a second), doesn't this, too, imply that light and time are related and can affect each other?


I pose an answer:
No.
Science and religion don't cancel each other out. Science, in fact, proves that there is a God. Example: Any natural constant. Let's use gravity. Everything on Earth accelerates at about ten meters a second, or about thirty feet per second (ignoring friction). Why? Because there is a constant, timeless, infinitely powerful God making sure that gravity always forces matter to act the same way under the same circumstances.

Religion and God are timeless. The Lord is the same yesterday, today, and forever. The Jehovah of the Old Testament is the Jesus Christ of the New, and the Jesus Christ of the Book of Mormon is the same as the Messiah of the Bible. Jesus is the God of this universe, the Creator of all things that are, were, and will be. He "[took] upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he [took] upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities," as Alma testified in the Book of Mormon (Alma 7:12). His Atonement is infinite, so that our corruption may put on incorruption, and we may be perfect as our Father in Heaven, who is perfect (2 Ne. 9:7, Book of Mormon; Matt. 5:48, KJV Bible).

I testify that Jesus is the Christ, that the Scriptures are His Words, and that He lives. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is led by the Lord through His living prophet, President Thomas S. Monson. I bear witness of these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.