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Originally Posted by Gem
Belief in God is considered irrelevant or unnecessary or unimportant in Buddhist philosophy. Thus, if a person believes or does not believe in God makes no difference, and anyone from any religion, including atheists, can engage with Dhamma teachings.
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Belief in God is useful and important bur certainly not mandatory as u say. Many a times in history people believing in God have done lot of wrong than right. So belief in God is not certificate to divinity. Purpose and actions too are very important.Thought patterns and actions in the world are also important part in the life. Like Buddhism all religions accepts atheists also if they engage with true teachings of those religions .
Like Buddha said " I am awake " when somebody asked him if he was God , others in the history too have been asked same question . They too have answered the question the way Buddha rightly answered .The question is kinda tricky one because Gods never/rarely say/claim I am God . If they routinely claim it that way , he/she really is not God/Goddess . God (like other nomenclature like saints , angel ) are what others give and for one to claim himself or herself about it is self-aggrandizement/propaganda.
And also those believing God also do not claim and can not claim to know God fully . That would simply be exaggeration . Being in the finite one can only glimpse the ways of infinite really with modesty, honesty and discipline. And these glimpses such people when recorded/documented becomes sciences / scriptures and is what the treasure of humanity as whole .
But I certainly would go with Green1 that belief in God ( along with right thoughts and actions) , life in the long run can be better in all aspects with relatively lesser efforts .