[paddymcg21]

I think there's some confusion with definitions here. An atheist is not someone who "knows" there is no higher being or deity, but simply someone who doesnt believe. It is impossible to know wether or not a higher being such as God "yaweh" whom the catholics worship, exists. For centuries there have been unsolved debates as to God's existence from noted philosophers and theologians e.g. Anselm, Aquinas, Kant etc. . . why would there be such a debate if there was a clear cut answer? As a catholic I do believe in a higher being but try to look at it objectively. I can totally understand how many many people are atheists. If I wrote a big long book about an elephant who lives in a galaxy far far away who has wings and can turn invisible, how does that mean it exists??! You cannot simply define something into existence. Using basic philosophy it's more a case of proving something does exist as opposed to proving it doesn't. I would'nt ask someone to prove the elephant doesn't exist and when they fail, proclaim that it does, and this is similar to arguments for the existence of God. No one can know for sure that God exists but also it is not 100% that he doesn't. It all comes down to belief. The problem is the only "evidence" (quotation marks hinting at sarcasm) we have is extremely subjective. Near death experiences, numinous experiences etc etc. . . They hold little water in my book as they cannot be validated. Im losing the point here and I apologise. Btw an agnostic is someone who either doesn't even have the notion of a deity, doesnt know if there is a deity, hasnt made their mind up wether or not there is a deity or just plain doesnt care.