End of the World and Belief Systems

There was a predicted End of the World, once more tediously again! - and the World ended not. What kind of belief is that? 

There was a disagreement about the nature of war, a certain war - the war in Afghanistan, to be precise. The disagreement was based on a dissonance between "belief systems", shall we say?

These led me to wonder a bit more about belief systems, which seem to be a motley group at best. Is there a great deal of coherence in belief systems, or are they most like aggregations of knick-knacks we pick up and carry along with us... somewhat like Marley's chains?
Well, I don't know.

However, it occurred to me that my usual stance that I do not believe in God; I expect God, has wrought an interesting change on what usually passes for a "belief system": the system of personal religious beliefs.

By changing religious statements from statements about beliefs into statements about expectations, it changes the dynamics of the situation. I mean, do you really think that you and I could seriously have a debate or argument about my expectations?
I suppose we could argue about whether the object of my expectations is "real" or not, but then I would refuse to do such a nonsensical thing. Why would I want to argue about the object of my expectations, as if the object were not yet realized? When I speak of expectation, I mean I expect God in the same way I expect the sun to rise. I do not believe the sun will rise, rather, I go and stand outside and prepare for my daily run at a certain time - which changes every day through the year - because the sunrise and I "do things together".  My expectation is not expecting a new surprise; it is the expectation born of familiarity. Hence, why would I argue about what I expect?

If my expectations are wrong, it is not quite as shattering as a belief being wrong. I have a lot less invested in it, whereas people seem to have a lot invested in belief systems. This may seem surprising: that I do not have a lot invested in an expectation of God. I have a lot invested in my car, not God. I do not spend money on my idea of God. Some people do. I do not have a separate part of my house for God. Some people do. I do not go to specialized advisors for God. Some people do.
If someone wants to say that the 50 years or so of searching for God is a great big "investment" of my life, I would say that that is life, not investment. God is not a set aside for later.

If I expect to see a friend, and that friend has passed on, then my expectations change; there is pain and sorrow, but these sufferings do not stem from the violence given to my belief system: they come from the nature of friendship and life.
Within a year or so, my expectations of seeing that friend will have passed, and I will have memories, not expectations.
Someone might say that I have my whole life invested in my view of God. I would answer that I have no view of God. I would refuse to argue, debate, or otherwise.... I would neither fish, nor would I cut bait, in this theological-philosophical sense. I have no interest in arguing with someone that God exists, when that same person will or will not go through a lot of life and make up their own minds in the fullness of time.
--