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I'm going to have to agree with Willravel, while no generalities can be made without discriminating against some minority, it can safely be said that Atheists either a) being so because of a basis in logic or b) being rebellious or angst-ridden. However, "b" should be disregarded, as I'm sure in a completely Atheistic society there would be rebels wishing to praise a supernatural being. For the most part--at least in my experience--even the most logical Theists often disregard that logic and take a leap of faith in their beliefs. I say this mainly because I have yet to hear an argument for a god that doesn't go something along the lines of "there has to be more out there" or "everything that exists must have a creator", without bordering on the simply ridiculous ("my momma said so," "I had a feeling").
Now, anyone who's read my posts knows I'm not nearly as intellectual or articulate as Willravel or, for that matter, most anyone in this thread, so I'll skip trying and simply say that the above arguments are a heaping load of horse shit. To believe in something supernatural because it cannot be disproved is silliness, simple as that. This is not to say agnostics are wrong, but rather that any Theist who uses the argument as their reasoning while also saying they are being logical are. If there is absolutely no proof, there is absolutely no reason to argue for it, in my opinion.
I personally believe in science, and when someone disproves evolution via scientific means, I will cease to believe in evolution, for example. Now, I'm sure someone could combat this by saying "Science makes no comment on the supernatural." I agree with this, partly because I refuse to believe in anything fictitious and as everyone knows, you can't use science to explain Harry Potter.
Further, I can't see any reason beyond selfishness or ignorance to believe in a god from any Theistic standpoint. I recall my mother once arguing that she simply couldn't live thinking there was nothing out there, and my thinking that it was the most ridiculous thing I'd ever heard her say. I have no reason personally to fear death (well, unless it's early death, but that's another matter), because not only do I not know what happens, but assuming you just stop existing, it seems perfectly sound. We're nothing but a biological entity with an advanced intellect that allows us to think outside the box, so it seems only logical that we would cease to comprehend once dead. Sure, it would be nice if we could go off to Heaven and spend eternity without boredom (somehow, it is Heaven after all) enjoying every minute, as hackneyed as that reads, but wanting something does not mean it exists. The idea that people base their lives around the notion that this can't be it is confounding and very close to depressing.
You can read into the attitude of people like Dawkins and Hitchens (whom I adore by the way), you can bring up angst-ridden teenagers, you can romanticize life and make philosophic mincemeat of the matter, but in the end it does not logically prove any religious belief.
That is my opinion on the debate this thread has become, as well as my Atheistic belief.
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It's a rare pleasure in this world to get your mind fucked. Usually it's just foreplay.
M.B. Keene
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