Some random thoughts on religious belief:

I am an atheist in that I reject the claim that a god or gods exist. It is not a belief; it is the rejection of a belief. Since it rejects the concept outright, it makes no positive claims as to the nonexistence of god. Theism, the belief to which I reject, is the belief in god, gods, or deities. By this definition, theism is not affiliated with any religion.

Before I continue, all of what follows depends on ones definition of 'god'. If you wish to define 'god' as love or some other abstract thing, go ahead, and depending on its formulation, I will have no disagreement, except maybe as to why you are calling the thing to which you are defining 'god,' since the term 'god' comes with thousands of years of extra baggage.

As I said above, atheism makes no positive claims as to the nonexistence of god. What does that mean? Well, the burden of proof is on the individual that makes a positive claim, and in this case it is that a god exists. Say I claim that six purple elephants are in my garage. Are you to believe me? Of course not, and no rational person would. If I cannot provide supporting evidence for my assertion, then you may reject the claim without having the provide a disproof.

To me, the belief in a sky daddy is just absurd to the Nth degree, especially when this supposed 'all powerful' being cares what you eat, who you sleep with and in what position, etc. It's just mind-boggling. (a deistic approach is absurd also)

The scientific explanations for the existence of everything are far more persuasive and elegant. Big bang cosmology is far more interesting and intellectually honest than "goddidit," along with the evidence that our species has evolved and shares a common ancestor with every other living species of plant and animal. We do not know what 95% of the universe is made of! Now, isn't that more interesting than a burning bush?

The Judeo-Christian creation myths especially do not make sense. I've actually been trying to read it for years, but it's so boring! The bible does contradict itself. I have a whole book on biblical contradictions ("Jesus, Interrupted" by Bart Ehrman). Once you but a little thought into the bible and its stories, they start to not make sense. Take the story of Adam & Eve. God, who is all knowing, all powerful, and all loving (three contradictory terms when put together) condemned Eve (a woman, one of the many instances of blatant sexism) for listening to the talking snake (wtf!), having curiosity and eating the apple, and then being thrown out of Eden forever and having all generations born a filthy sinner.

I’m sorry, I will not be talked to in that tone of voice.

The problem of evil has bedeviled theologians for thousands of years. How can you square the concept of evil with an all-loving creator? It has been known since the time of the Greek philosopher Epicurus. We have three characteristics given to the Judeo-Christian God: omnipotence, omnibenevolence, and omniscience. Taken together, this being cannot logically exist.

If God is all loving, he does not want evil. It God is all knowing, he must know evil exists. If God is all powerful, he should be able to rid the world of evil. Therefore, evil should not exist.

Now, dropping any of the Omni- terms would rid this being of contradictions, but in doing so, one would be undermining the very essence of the creator espoused by Judeo-Christian faith. Philosopher David Hume noted, "Is He willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then He is impotent. Is He able, but not willing? Then He is malevolent. Is He both able and willing? Whence then is evil?"

Take vicarious redemption through Jesus; we are told to pray and our sins will be forgiven because Jesus sacrificed himself (to himself since Jesus is god). Now, is it me or does that take away the concept of personal responsibility? As Christopher Hitchens points out, “I can pay your debt, I can even take your place in prison, but I can’t take away your responsibility.” By saying a few simple words out loud, you are essentially relieving yourself of personal responsibility. An immoral teaching!

All religions are more or less homophobic in one respect or another. I think it’s the whole being different thing. Uniqueness in religion is frowned upon due to the deviation from monotony, which is how religion thrives; repetition. The younger generation has no problem with gay people. Most people have come to realize that the same text that supposedly condemns homosexuality also condemns eating shellfish (Lev 11:9-12, Deu 14:9-10), shaving, and wearing mixed fiber clothing! Also the mounting scientific evidence that sexual orientation is innate in us. Heck, homosexuality is everywhere in nature

Most religious folks are full of hypocrisy. They rally against something, and then turn around and do it. Plus, there’s a lot of cherry picking going on; going through the bible and choosing those passages they want to enforce and throwing out those that affect them.

Most ancient religions have borrowed stories from each other. For example, the Genesis flood is taken from the poem, the Epic of Gilgamesh from Mesopotamia.

Atheism has had a negative connotation for many years. Religious figures have defined atheism has evil and blamed many atrocities on atheism (all unjustified). A lot of people say Hitler was an atheist and did what he did because of this. Not only is this incorrect, it is a blatant lie. Hitler was a devout Catholic, and even praised god and jesus in this writings. No one in history has done anything in the name of atheism. We can think of many examples of horrible things being done in the name of religion (need I mention 9/11?). Yes, atheists have done awful things, but they were not done in the name of atheism.

People accuse atheists of being hot-headed and angry, but I haven't met one. Religious people get offended and angry because atheists, by definition, are questioning their beliefs. Religions have been held to a higher standard, for no reason, that questioning of the said beliefs is unkind and shouldnt be done. I'm sorry: I'm going to call a spade a spade and call out bullshit when I see/hear it

I find that most theists can't justify their beleifs without an appeal to faith, which is intellectually bankrupt. I find that when I talk to theists, most either won't have the discussion, or try to define their god into existence. They will define god as 'love' or some abstract term, and then claim that because the concept of love exists, their god exists. I just chuckle and pick apart their reasoning

Now, I do not want anyone to take from this that I think all religious people are aweful and unable to do good. This is not the case. Many theists are very nice, rational people...EXCEPT when it comes to their religious beliefs. It is as though some wall has been built up in their mind that separates religion from all other areas of discourse. Yes, there are those who hold irrational beliefs in many aspects of their lives (creationism, belief in alien visitations, etc.), but that is a whole different issue

-FrankEinstein