Atheism is not credible.

Hi Cornelius, it's good that you had a chance to come back to the argument. When I say that you are a practising atheist (that was a little joke) I did not intend to mean that you do all those anti-God things in your life. But you have to admit, you may not have noticed it I know, but there is a general concerted effort throughout the mainstream to actually push a secular or humanist or atheistic agenda. Also at times it is intended to offend people who hold a belief system around a supernatural entity (God). I think we should get some definitions correct here, as I think we could be confusing each other here. Atheism by its very nature is a belief system. Any word suffixed with -ism is categorised as such. The etymology of the suffix is defined as to being used to form abstract nouns of action, state, condition or doctrine. You can check -ism on wiki and see how these all relate to either belief or doctrine or principle of some kind. And you are correct, not all belief systems require you to believe in God or gods. That's my point with this. And this why we can debate the topic, as it is belief versus belief. We are not discussing religion here as its not the point. There are many beliefs out there for sure, but they can all be classified as either monotheistic (Christianity, Judaism, Islam), polytheistic (Eastern religions in the main and worship many gods) or pantheistic (God is everywhere at all times and in all things) and atheistic (there are no gods and everything is material). http://en.wiktionary.org... So, in effect atheism is your belief system. Atheism denies the existence of any supernatural entity to account for anything in the material world. As you are an atheist, you can also call yourself a materialist too as you believe that everything in the universe is essentially reduced to material terms, even your own mind. As I said all of those philosophical questions that are and will continue to be on your material mind will always reduce to a material answer. When you discuss religions I understand the confusion that can be created. Religion again can be defined many ways as the below will testify to. Religion can be formalised or not I agree. When a group of atheists meet, they are formalising their religion and beliefs. http://www.oxforddictionaries.com... The belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods: ideas about the relationship between science and religion MORE EXAMPLE SENTENCES SYNONYMS 1.1 [COUNT NOUN] A particular system of faith and worship: the world"s great religions MORE EXAMPLE SENTENCES 1.2 [COUNT NOUN] A pursuit or interest followed with great devotion: consumerism is the new religion In effect then, as you are a materialist atheist that does not believe in God or gods, your default position is your belief in some person or persons having all the answers to our existence and the meaning of life. That is your belief and your religion. You have put your faith in other persons to come up with all the answers and to tell you how you should live your life. But who are those people who believe they have all the answers to those questions and can explain them in material terms? Are they the superhuman controlling power, only accountable to themselves? Are you being deceived into believing anything they tell you to believe? Atheism is not as innocent as it sounds. I understand that to you, people who believe in God or gods are religious, and you are not. I think you are rebelling as to what you call religion as it doesn't look or seem right. You are correct, there's a lot of phony beliefs and doctrines in religion, I totally agree. That does not undermine my belief in one supernatural entity that is the Creator of the Universe. I am Christian (non denominational) as I have made a conscious decision to believe in that one all-powerful entity based upon logic and reason and not doctrine or traditions. No, I'm not an atheist toward all other beliefs, I naturally believe that the God (of the Bible) is the only one true God. I believe and know with a high degree of certainty that is the truth. There is only one truth in the world. So you can believe in lies or truth, you cannot be atheistic against other gods or religions as I'm not making a hard conscious decision to disbelieve them. Sure. i've researched them to find truth, but if they do not have truth then they are false. I don't want to believe false doctrine. Yes, it is a belief, just a belief in truth or something other than truth. God, I assure you is not a man made thing. False gods are man made. That is like saying all truth is man made, there is no absolute truth, which is ridiculous and is contradictory. People are not born 'atheist'. Children ask some of the most philosophical questions from the age of 4 or 5. So what are they thinking? I doubt it is, there is no God. Is it abusive to the child, not to introduce the idea of an entity such as God into their life or confirm what they may be already thinking? Children aren't dumb, they are extremely perceptive. I like your anecdote. My sound and reasonable belief in God came exactly from critical thinking, logic and questioning. That's a good point what is the source of all the logical and mathematical truths in the universe. These transcend space and time. Are these material too?? By the way, I always encourage people to think properly and question everything, that's the point. God is the very essence of order in the universe. If you deny logic, then you deny God, that's what I've learned. Pure logic is divine. I don't quite understand why you think the idea of God is a lie, and that your belief is true. I would like to know your arguments for that. Has God or your idea of God made you feel angry or disappointed for some reason? I really would like to know. Ok to sum up, I think I've countered your comments to my arguments, but you have not made any convincing argument as yet, as to why atheism is credible. By the way, I acknowledge your age and will try and temper my reasoning with you. It is difficult, and sometimes I may come across harsh or unfunny. That is not my intent I assure you. Just one last thing. When atheists speak, sometimes quite harshly, why do they always attack the Christian God of the Bible, and not some other gods? Is it that they don't like Christians or that they really don't like God as such? Good luck with the next round, if you can find the time to respond.