Pushing God from gap to gap.

[annabanana]

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If you don't have any data, that's fine, I'd still be interested in your personal experience that leads you to believing that most theists have gone thru an atheist phase, since it is so opposite to what I've seen.


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It’s also completely opposite to my experiences and I find the idea preposterous. To say that most theists have gone through an atheist phase then flopped back is like saying that most people went through a phase at about the age of 10 or 11 where they didn’t believe in Santa Clause, then flopped back to believing.

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I for one am an atheist who was raised in a Christian home, and at one point in time considered going into the ministry. I was 28 when I began questioning my beliefs, and now three years later am a confirmed atheist. I have known people who were raised in completely non-theist homes and then got "saved". I have known people who like me were religious and then determined those beliefs were wrong. I have known many more people who follow what they were raised with.
I should point out that I distinguish between a non-theist-- a person who doesn't give it much thought or just doesn't believe there is reason to believe in the existence of God, and an atheist who truly believes that there is not a God. Granted, my belief that there is not a God really cannot be supported by much other than the idea that religion serves certain psychological and social needs and therefore was created by man and is sustained by man, but still, I believe that there is no God.
Who has the advantage? The person who has done the best job of thinking critically about all of the possibilities, regardless of where they end up on this argument. Of course, I think the one who does the most critical thinking will end up an atheist, but then "most" is a subjective term here, so it would be hard to say who does the most critical thinking.

My Bible knowledge doesn't stack up too favorably against most people who claim christianity. I feel that my ability to understand logic does though.

I would agree that man pushes God from gap to gap, actually. It is an interesting way of putting it. I like it.

[Lestat]

<font color="blue">I drop an apple to the ground. You say gravity did it. Now show that God wasn't necessary for the apple to fall. </font>

NotReady,

Doesn't it bother you in the least that just about anything OTHER than God can also be substituted as the answer to your question? What about Poseidon, Zeus, or Wotan? Or the Juju at the bottom of the sea? Or the Leprechan who dwells in a cave in Ireland? Can you show that any of them are not necessary for an apple to fall?

I would think such a question borders on blasphemy. You are showing God to be just as necessary as so many fictional creatures the mind can dream up. Such a question does a better job than any atheist's could do to put God on equal footing with the FSP or a pink unicorn. Even if God did exist, there is no reason to think He created everything to require His attention to every trivial detail that occurs in the universe.

I can't believe this doesn't bother you. It would bother me a great deal even if I were a believer.