Why Did God Make It So Difficult?, He does, indeed, move in mysterious ways —Rumination

Reading the give-and-take on this message board, including the wide range of positions/opinions expressed by various posters, leads me to ask, Why did God make it so difficult to believe in him? It's a spectacle, really (no offense intended) to see TBMs and other people of faith try to explain readily observable facts that strongly suggest that if there is a God, he is AWOL. What real evidence exists that God is "up there," let alone one of the LDS variety? If he is "up there," why does he take culturally driven forms (a fact that does much to account for humankind's many different belief systems)? One philosopher said (sorry, I do not recall his name), "A thing is neither good nor bad, but thinking makes it so." Isn't there good reason to believe that humankind has "thought" God into existence? (This is not what I want to believe, but--for me--it's a highly tempting conclusion.)

I don't think it's so difficult to believe in God, per se. But when it comes to a specific religion, in this case Mormonism, I agree with you. In that case, we're left to believe that God has, whether deliberately (to test our faith?) or passively (concerned with more important things?) allowed observable reality to seemingly conflict with religious teachings. Literal belief in Joseph Smith's mission and stories paints an interesting picture of deity in my mind.