"Faith is that thing that allows you to believe in something that nobody in their right mind would believe if it wasn't for faith." - Archie Bunker

"No amount of belief establishes a fact." - James Randi

I prefer the more liberal definition of atheist. I withhold belief until there is proof. The more outlandish the hypothesis the more stringent the proof. If my wife says "I saw a grey and white cat when I went for the mail" I tend to believe her with no proof. If she says "I saw a purple and green cat" I think I would require at least an unphotoshopped picture. An invisible, all-powerful man in the sky? Show me the miracle.

for me, I'm an atheist. not that I don't approve of (some) things they do/stand for, but more like ...
you will not kill, you will not steal, ...
according to christianity, if you hold yourself to these 'standardized' rules, you are a good Christian.
according to me, if you uphold these values, you are a decent human being. I don't need someone who might (not) exist to enforce this on me, I am capable of deciding this for myself. unfortunately, I see a lot of "religious" people who are "touched by the word" merely hold themselves to these rules, not because they want to, but because "God will know they did a boo - boo if they didn't".

I also know of a lot of "faithfull Christians" who act as total scum, but have there little one-on-one with the priest, who gives them "ten holy Mary's" and they're fine, washed from sin.

no matter how religion has started, it's in the hands of men, and no matter how good your gods/god/God is, these men are flawed. religion is very easy to abuse, and unfortunately, this happens a lot. those who speak for their faith, the representatives of their religious community, ask their followers to send money to "help the poor" while they themselves sit on gold thrones, will never be hungry, ...

I rather choose to respect religion, then to believe in it. respect might lead to understanding, while 'truly believing' often leads to fanatics fighting over whose god is the better one, not noticing that even though they all have their own names and rituals, they're basically praying to the same god.

I believe this discussion is best addressed by the BBT discussion between Dr. Sheldon Cooper in a conversation with his mother, Mrs. Cooper. (He having gone home to Texas after a humiliation at the university.) ...

LEONARD: (Attempting to convince Sheldon to return to the University) ..."And bring you home. So, why don’t you pack up your stuff and we’ll head back."

SHELDON: No, this is my home now. Thanks to you, my career is over and I will spend the rest of my life here in Texas trying to teach evolution to creationists.

MRS. COOPER: You watch your mouth, Shelly. Everyone’s entitled to their opinion.

SHELDON: Evolution isn’t an opinion, it’s fact.

SHELDON: And that is your opinion.

Sheldon: "I forgive you" (Spoken to Leonard, Raj and Howard) "Let’s go home."

Mrs Cooper: Don’t tell me prayer doesn’t work.

(Sorry for reposting.  I didn't see a way to delete original and I had royally flubbed - A.)

I believe this discussion is best addressed by the BBT discussion between Dr. Sheldon Cooper in a conversation with his mother, Mrs. Cooper. (He having gone home to Texas after a humiliation at the university.) ...

LEONARD: (Attempting to convince Sheldon to return to the University) ..."And bring you home. So, why don’t you pack up your stuff and we’ll head back."

SHELDON: No, this is my home now. Thanks to you, my career is over and I will spend the rest of my life here in Texas trying to teach evolution to creationists.

MRS. COOPER: You watch your mouth, Shelly. Everyone’s entitled to their opinion.

SHELDON: Evolution isn’t an opinion, it’s fact.

MRS COOPER: And that is your opinion. - my error in original post was that I had Sheldon saying this -

Sheldon: "I forgive you" (Spoken to Leonard, Raj and Howard) "Let’s go home."

Mrs Cooper: Don’t tell me prayer doesn’t work.

(Sorry for reposting. I didn't see a way to delete original and I had royally flubbed - A.)

I believe this discussion is best addressed by the BBT discussion between Dr. Sheldon Cooper in a conversation with his mother, Mrs. Cooper. (He having gone home to Texas after a humiliation at the university.) ...

LEONARD: (Attempting to convince Sheldon to return to the University) ..."And bring you home. So, why don’t you pack up your stuff and we’ll head back."

SHELDON: No, this is my home now. Thanks to you, my career is over and I will spend the rest of my life here in Texas trying to teach evolution to creationists.

MRS. COOPER: You watch your mouth, Shelly. Everyone’s entitled to their opinion.

SHELDON: Evolution isn’t an opinion, it’s fact.

MRS COOPER: And that is your opinion. - my error in original post was that I had Sheldon saying this -

Sheldon: "I forgive you" (Spoken to Leonard, Raj and Howard) "Let’s go home."

Mrs Cooper: Don’t tell me prayer doesn’t work.

Some religious people wear their belief on their sleeves and never miss an opportunity to proselytize. There are atheists who do the same. I've coined a word for a person who doubts the existence of God and won't shut up about it.

nagnostic

Think it'll catch on?

I am an Atheist but I don't practice! :)
My wife and two boys go to a Baptist Christian Church and I don't knock them for it but sometimes I really have to bite my tongue when my boys tell me something that they "learned" about the Christian God. I respect them and other people who aren't a-holes about their religions. As for science, the same goes! Neither science or theology can explain our beginnings or our endings. They all take their best theories and try to say it's gospel and if you don't believe then you are either stupid or damned (or both). We humans are an interesting animal to say the least!

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