Atheism - ? I agree..

[qwertz143]

yes i need this thread
finally a good debate

I need to say something to American readers in particular at this
point, for the religiosity of today's America is something truly
remarkable. The lawyer Wendy Kaminer was exaggerating only
slightly when she remarked that making fun of religion is as risky
as burning a flag in an American Legion Hall.1 The status of
atheists in America today is on a par with that of homosexuals fifty
years ago. Now, after the Gay Pride movement, it is possible,
though still not very easy, for a homosexual to be elected to public
office. A Gallup poll taken in 1999 asked Americans whether they
would vote for an otherwise well-qualified person who was a woman
(95 per cent would), Roman Catholic (94 per cent would), Jew (92 per
cent), black (92 per cent), Mormon (79 per cent), homosexual (79
per cent) or atheist (49 per cent). Clearly we have a long way to go.
But atheists are a lot more numerous, especially among the educated
elite, than many realize. This was so even in the nineteenth century,
when John Stuart Mill was already able to say: 'The world would be
astonished if it knew how great a proportion of its brightest
ornaments, of those most distinguished even in popular estimation for
wisdom and virtue, are complete sceptics in religion.'
This must be even truer today and, indeed, I present evidence for
it. The reason so many people don't notice atheists is
that many of us are reluctant to 'come out'. My dream is that this
book may help people to come out. Exactly as in the case of the gay
movement, the more people come out, the easier it will be for others
to join them. There may be a critical mass for the initiation of a
chain reaction.
American polls suggest that atheists and agnostics far outnumber
religious Jews, and even outnumber most other particular
religious groups. Unlike Jews, however, who are notoriously one of
the most effective political lobbies in the United States, and unlike
evangelical Christians, who wield even greater political power,
atheists and agnostics are not organized and therefore exert almost
zero influence. Indeed, organizing atheists has been compared to
P R E F A C E 5
herding cats, because they tend to think independently and will not
conform to authority. But a good first step would be to build up a
critical mass of those willing to 'come out', thereby encouraging
others to do so. Even if they can't be herded, cats in sufficient
numbers can make a lot of noise and they cannot be ignored.
The word 'delusion' in my title has disquieted some psychiatrists
who regard it as a technical term, not to be bandied about. Three
of them wrote to me to propose a special technical term for
religious delusion: 'relusion'.2 Maybe it'll catch on. But for now I
am going to stick with 'delusion', and I need to justify my use of it.
The Penguin English Dictionary defines a delusion as 'a false belief
or impression'. Surprisingly, the illustrative quotation the dictionary
gives is from Phillip E. Johnson: 'Darwinism is the story of
humanity's liberation from the delusion that its destiny is controlled
by a power higher than itself.' Can that be the same Phillip E.
Johnson who leads the creationist charge against Darwinism in
America today? Indeed it is, and the quotation is, as we might
guess, taken out of context. I hope the fact that I have stated as
much will be noted, since the same courtesy has not been extended
to me in numerous creationist quotations of my works, deliberately
and misleadingly taken out of context. Whatever Johnson's own
meaning, his sentence as it stands is one that I would be happy to
endorse. The dictionary supplied with Microsoft Word defines a
delusion as 'a persistent false belief held in the face of strong
contradictory evidence, especially as a symptom of psychiatric disorder'.
The first part captures religious faith perfectly. As to
whether it is a symptom of a psychiatric disorder, I am inclined to
follow Robert M. Pirsig, author of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle
Maintenance, when he said, 'When one person suffers from a
delusion, it is called insanity. When many people suffer from
a delusion it is called Religion

now please read this carefully as it makes proper sense
dawkins says that atheists are reluctant to come out and tell the world that they do not believe in god...
ive come out and now youve come out
Kevin, welcome to the family
further arguement will be entertained, i need to debate
i.e. god is not real

and

@Kevin and Evil sonidow
6 days are not days like in real life, they are much more longer

just read that again and again
now doesnt that sound really silly to you?
how can you believe that?
and how is it that the world was made in 2000 years
it doesnt make any sense
it is proved that fossils were there much before that millions of years age
science trumps religion