Good point. I have this bad habit of attempting to be 'polite'. Must be
early conditioning.
I believe that if you out of hand eliminate a possibility because of no
PRESENT evidence, you may miss healthy speculation that may uncover the same
evidence you seek. Many great discoveries were made by people saying 'what
if', often in direct opposition to what was well known at the time.
The particular species of atheist I meant seems to have a mindset similar to
the fundamentalist who will never change his/her beliefs regardless of
evidence to the contrary. When presented with such facts, they invoke God's
(Ungod's?) help to resist temptation..
I have to agree about those who unconditionally accept what others tell
them, never looking to find out for themselves the basis for these beliefs.
Especially those who 'interpret' writings such as the Bible to support their
own personal agendas. Pick your own examples from the myriad available.
These people have caused more human misery than any other single cause I can
name.
The fact that the US Government has various referneces to 'God' in our
documents, in a society where religious freedom is supposed to be a basic
right, is hard to understand. It just gives fuel to the individuals
mentioned earlier, and their followers.
Most religions I have had personal contact with seem to put a premium on
'suspension of disbelief' as a critical part of the ceremony. Perhaps
humanity has an inborn need to disbelieve that we are actually all alone,
and responsible only for our own behavior and the resluts of it?
Chuck Kuecker