However, there are still very many of us who arrived at our beliefs only because we did question, we did doubt, we did think, ponder, search and study.

Actually, I would place a rather large bet (if I gambled) that most people have arrived at their religious decisions, whether theistic, or otherwise, through trials, and such.

I wouldn't. I do also draw a distinction between theists and dogmatic theists. The dogmatic ones tend to be the ones that lakc the ability to think on thier own. Dogmatic theists would be the types who take the Bible or other religious text as unadultarated, literal truth. Some thesits do question, just most that do tend to know the difference between what an agnostic and what an athiest is.

just most that do tend to know the difference between what an agnostic and what an athiest is.

I know what the difference is, good grief. It was a statement against the politcally correctness of a previous statement.

I don't think God can be proven. Like the universe itself, God's incomprehensible.
Theists aren't the only ones with faith. Everybody has faith of some kind. The only people without faith are the ones in the ground.
I personally believe that theists, deists, agnostics, and atheists are all open-minded as long as they don't forget their human limitations.
As for whether or not God is malevolent, all I know is that I still hate my own father for allowing the evil man at the hospital to stick those IV needles into me. Why would my father force me to go through such pain? Same with when he pours that evil hydrogen peroxide on my wounds. That only makes them hurt more.