Well, I wasn't sure where you were going with that first post, but...

I've had this conversation enough times to believe that there is no common ground for us to meet on. My point in that other place was that I never had a moment when I considered my options and decided to be an atheist. It's something I came to, not something I chose. Maybe the two of you could discuss your own processes.

At the same time, I've been waiting for someone to bring this up: Steve said, "It's more logical to assume an intelligent, logical engineer." That's the Watchmaker hypothesis, and I must admit that it has some resonance. I've been reading about the origin of life (context: chance of life on other planets) and string theory lately, and man, everything just lines up a little too perfect. But my objection to religion isn't merely an objection to god; it's to the wealth of belief, dogma, and ritual built up around god. How do you logically get from 'created the universe' to 'expects us to behave in certain ways and promises reward/punishment according to our compliance?' I could just as easily claim that this is one of infinite universes: the one that got conditions just right.

Later.