Belief in a higher power is founded on faith. There can be no proof. Equally, there can be no disproving the existence of a higher power. That is the nature and dilemma of a God.
But I'll give you Pascal's Wager: If there is a God, and you live your life morally and in a faithful manner, your gains are infinite. If there isn't, and you still live your life in a moral and faithful manner, you at the very least have likely been a good human being, nothing to sneeze at.
Conversely, if there is a God and you choose to live your life in a manner antithetical to the Bible/Koran/etc, you are in deep shit. If there isn't a God, and you choose to live imorally, then you have likely been a burden to mankind.
What does this mean? You have nothing to gain from giving up your faith, and EVERYTHING to lose.
Mind you, I myself have no place for religion in my life; but I have as much respect for the viewpoints of religious folks as I do for any other. I do not regard their decisions as weakness, nor do I have the unfettered arrogance to think not believing makes one inherently less of a victim of manipulation. My atheism is founded on personal issues, and I would never thrust my beliefs on others by thinking them inferior for something that is 100% opinion.
The only thing that matters as far as I am concerned is the sincerity of your beliefs. There are false atheists just as there are false Christians, and neither is very worthwhile. If you sincerely think God is not for you, then you shouldn't be asking other people what to think. You should read, contemplate, and figure out what such a decision really means.
It is not a democratic process that brings man truth. You do not put these things up to vote. You have to figure them out for yourself.
Keep in mind that if you ask at a place like X-S, the bulk of people will be against religion, simply because most young people rebel there first. Some will be well thought out responses, but a lot will just be shit they heard someone they think is smart say once about atheism that they regurgitate.
Some of the most incredibly good people in history have been atheists; likewise, all of the truly evil people in history have to have been atheists at their core, simply because no one who believed divine judgement was awaiting them would have been stupid enough to risk eternal damnation for earthly gain.
And loai this discussion has been had before at x-s, and will be had again. If you don't like it don't click on it. It is as valid as any other topic of debate on x-s, and there is no need for it to be a destructive discussion if people are just mature about their views being *OPINIONS* and not the absolute truth.
