Maybe it's just a cop out for people not in touch with the nature of reality or themselves. Not willing to be part of silly religious illusions is understandable I guess, still, to get to the HEART of the big questions, you have to be willing to explore and not just shunt.
I guess I could be atheist in a way, not believing in an ultimate deity, but I still believe that they exist, in our collective psyche.
Damn, I was really trying hard to offend some one there, as the thread suggest lol.

If there is a god, I'll be the first to say "Well damn, I was wrong." but as of right now I'm not convinced, nor do I particularly care. I'm happy doing my own thing and so long as nobody tries to force their beliefs on me, I'm fine with religion. Some people just need to have a higher power to place their faith in, to give them reason to 'be', whereas I prefer to place my faith in the people around me that I care for, instead - they're the reason I'm here, and will continue to be here. *shrug*

Everything would be great if religion was only some sort of hobby that don't affect lives of people. But there's still lot of important laws set on basis of religious beliefs (in some countries of course) - which has impact on lots of significant things in life. Restrictive abortion laws, all the fuss about stem cell research, teaching "controversy" between intelligent design and theory of evolution, paying your taxes on organisations you don't support at all etc. Not the harmless stuff that's used only by people arguing on the internet, the stuff you can lose your health, knowledge, money or whatever to.

If you don't agree with world based on such values being annoying Richard fucking Dawkins kind of asshole does have a point, doesn't it. Sure you probably won't achieve much, but it's still better than nothing. Fight for your rights and all that.

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It's intriguing that your atheism is based on 'proven facts', whereas everything else is based on 'lies'.

It's interesting that organised religion 'forces lies down people's throats' whereas you just have an altruistic need to 'help people out' of their mistaken belief systems.

Obviously this is not hypocritical evangelising arrogance on your part, because you know that your beliefs are right, and everyone else's wrong (of course they are, because they are based on 'proven facts', right?), so really it is your moral responsibility to enlighten those poor dupes who think differently. Makes you and them better people.

If only people like you ruled the world and could tell everyone what they can think.

If only people like you ruled the world and could tell everyone what they can think.

Isn't this already happening?

One day, Pinky, it shall be I who rules the world.

Then you'll see shit get sorted, I tell thee.

[swervedriver]

But Brain, what will we do until then?

I make this post specifically to say that plenty of the atheists I know find many, many faults in religion (not that I don't see quite a few of them as valid), but some tend to go to extremes that make them just as militant and irritating as evangelicals.

This is exactly why I tend to stray from these arguments. A militant atheist is just as bad as a militant evangelical. Either way someone is trying to force their beliefs down your throat for their own personal gain. I knew a seriously militant atheist once and any time anyone would say anything pertaining to religion he would just go off, huge arguments ensued.

Think for yourself, come to your own conclusions and do research. That's all I have to say.

I agree with this 100%. I have a friend that is a militant atheist and he can be just as bad as any evangelical.

I would never try to convince someone to become an atheist if they were a Christian. People should come about that conclusion on their own and not be pressured to believe or not to believe in something.

Religion has always held back society from any sort of progression....morals, philosophy, etc. Religion is also either a hit or miss for people that you can do nothing about and shouldn't waste you time on. All religions are their own business as I call it. They all have marketing campaigns. I take great offense in just the amount of control that they issue upon their followers for their OWN security in lies. I've taken my fair set of classes and done my reading and own many copies of the bible, new/old testament and It really amazes me the amount of finer details that people really overlook. I've always been the type of person to think that if the bible was important enough to follow certain things said in there how are other things less important? Everyone picks and chooses what they like or dislike about the bible and evolves it into their own personal rulebook. Every Christian I've talked to all explain things totally different, some think drinking is okay, some think it will send you to hell, some think smoking weed is okay and some do not. It's the never ending excuse book and really on top of being the greatest story ever told its also the greatest bullshit story ever told as well.

The authority figures of the church would not get so offended by people attempting to disprove of their teachings if they did not have so much to lose. That being tax free donated income from the flock of the churches, the amount of control that they have over these people. Most people that claim to even be religious haven't even gone over the entire bible. I could go on and on and on about my experiences with this but it would never end so I'll stop now.

My final point is that give it time. Atheism and nonbelievers is on the rise around the world and slowly but surely I'm sure silly things such a religion will be weeded out and we can finally have the burden of it lifted off the shoulders of the human race.

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Aleksi, the problem with you openly saying these people lie, is twofold:

Firstly, for them to be lying, they would need to be convinced that their creation theory was in fact incorrect, and nonetheless deliberate claim otherwise. That is very different to believing something that may not be true.

Secondly, the concept of 'facts' in all of this is shakey. It is your opinion that man evolved and the planet is considerably older than 6000 years. It is an opinion supported by a fairly colossal amount of scientific evidence, and one with which I (and in my opinion, most right-thinking individuals) concur, but it is not strictly a fact. There is an outside possibility that God, as Bill Hicks described, just put all those dinosaur bones in the desert to test our faith, or simply to fuck with us. What's the point of being a Supreme Being if you can't have a little fun, right? It is also possible that all those books you have read and documentaries you have watched about evolution are in fact lies, and all part of a great big conspiracy to discredit the work of God. Okay it is a little far fetched but you cannot rule it out 100%. Lots of history gets rewritten and people accept the version they are given as fact. Where I live there are a lot of people who believe whole heartedly in all manner of crackpot theories from giant crystals beneath mountains to reincarnation as animal spirits to the CIA controlling us all by means of chemicals sprayed by aeroplanes which we mistake for contrails... I could go on. On the whole I tend to to think that they are somewhere towards the potty end of the spectrum and their myriad belief systems are a load of fanciful horseshit, but I can't prove it definitively. I don't know for a fact that when I die I am not going to be reincarnated as a vole, because I haven't died yet. So it is just my opinion. And opinions, as the saying goes, are like arseholes: everyone has got one.
Meantime it is is neither my responsibility nor my right to try to disavow these people of their opinions.

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These people are trying to get ID teached in schools and a thing like that is well, evil for the lack of better word.

Yes, they should concentrate on getting stuff like past participles taught instead.

These people are divided into two categories, the leaders and the sheep (they call themselves that don't crucify me). Leaders will do anything to defend their believes and sooner or later that will lead them into lying deliberately.

Which category do you see yourself in? And what does that say about your beliefs? Are you being honest?

That is one of the worst arguments I've ever heard.

Really? You have clearly lead a more sheltered life than I first imagined.

1. Don't ever do anything unless you're 100% certain of it.
2. You can never be 100% certain of anything
3. Sit in the dark till you die.

ah, guess you misconstrued me then. Try this for size:

1. Just because you have an opinion does not make it 100% fact.
2. Foisting your opinion or people who think otherwise does not make you a better person, it just makes you an opinionated loudmouth.
3. If you can't let other people have their own opinions, sit wherever the fuck you like and shut the fuck up.

So, I'm anti-religious. I'm not an atheist, agnostic, xtian, jew, hindi or muslim.

What I love to see is that atheists want to live and let live with other religions. In essence, we'll sit over here with our head in the sand, pretending your deity doesn't exist as long as you don't harp on about it.

Meanwhile, muslims kill xtians, xtians kill muslims, etc. etc. etc. Maybe all you atheists should wake up and call a spade a spade. If you willingly participate in the above statement, you're no better, arguably worse, than any other belief system. If we are to co-exist on this earth, some hard motherfucking truths need to be called out.

If every religious person took some initiative and a short period of self-reflection, they may find that their deity has done nothing to improve this existence. In fact, it has put them at odds with their brothers and sisters. If everyone turned a new leaf one day and said "I'm not going to look to the sky for the answer to poverty, suffering or strife. I'm going to share with my neighbour and if (S)He does the same, maybe shit will turn around for homeless guy, haitian earthquake survivor, african aids sufferer or anyone else not enjoying the standard of living that some of us do". See, when you really look at it, we're all human, we shouldn't be bickering over garbage that as far as I am concerned, is completely made up and unimportant to furthering the species.

Could there be a supreme being? An all knowing, all powerful overseer? Could it be that there is an energy field, all encompassing that has no consciousness?
I have no fucking idea and neither do you. What I do know is that there are some crazy motherfuckers pointing guns and missiles at each other here on earth because they can't agree on which version of bullshit is the truth.

Or... we should all give up and say good riddance as everyone presses the "fire" button.