[Taraz]

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Considering the fact that only about 2-3% of the world's population is atheist, it would seem prudent to be able to engage theists in a constructive manner.

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I don't think it's 2-3% of the world population. That sounds close to the American population though.

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I honestly don't know where I got that number from. It could be the American population. I don't think it changes my argument much though. We should try to engage, understand, educate, etc. theists because there are a lot of them and they directly affect our lives.

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I think accuracy with respect to these percentages are important, because it's important for religious people to realize that much of the world has already emerged from the dark ages. Questioning the existence of an all-powerful invisible creator is not a cult or religion in it's own right. It's simply the most logical conjecture based on 21st century evidence. People living secluded lives with respect to their religion need to be made aware of the fact that much of the world has been enlightened and perhaps it's time for them to follow.

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I'm not advocating silence or timidity, but I'm not in favor of scorn, disdain, and ridicule either. I think it is important to have an open dialogue with theists and religious people.

Even if my number was completely off and actually 20% of the world is atheist, I don't think it changes my argument much. A lot of the world believes in a deity or deities. There are many reasons for this and we should be sensitive to the fact that attitudes aren't going to change overnight.