>meaning, since it wasn't proven then it won't be cosigned?

I don't think it's that simple since being a scientist and being a theist aren't mutually exclusive, I wouldn't presume to speak for such a large group of people.

That being said, my point wasn't whether or not being a scientist was an alternative to being an atheist, it was that I find posts and discussions revolving around "I don't believe in your fictional sky father, aren't I smart, heeheehee!" less interesting or worthy of consideration than posts like "Did you read about how that paper on cosmic expansion was flawed" or "What do you think of P-Zombies"?


>And do you think that people raised in whatever faith that
>leave the fold, regardless of being outcasted, are not being
>courageous? Serious questions

If you're a 16 year old girl who fled from a radical ultra-orthodox Mormon compound or you had the gay beaten/prayed out of you by some closeted self-hating overweight southern preacher, but you never gave in to their hatred then I want to buy you dinner and hear your story. You're a tough muthafucka and you are worthy of praise.

If you just had to go to church and listen to some stories until you were 18, you need to get the fuck over it. Parents do all types of shit that annoys their kids. You can't find a way to get around their religion? You've never had to make peace with someone who has different politics than you do? It's part of living in society. Get used to it. You don't deserve a medal for having a different set of beliefs than other people.


>ridiculing ideas we know not to be true is just the changing
>of the guard as far as I'm concerned, especially when they are
>outdated and cause people not to consider an alternative.

Ridicule away, but saying it's a changing of the guard is a bit much. You're against superstition, and hey, more power to you, but you aren't actively replacing the large of amount of communal infrastructure that religion represents. I'm sure you think most of it's for the bad, but unless you're planning on opening up some hospitals and soup kitchens in the name of atheism, I wouldn't lay it on so thick.


"All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts..." -The Bard