Quote From eska:
Hey Walminskipeas - maybe you can answer something for me? It always amazes me when atheists become angry and or passionate about people believing in god - why does it bring out so much passion? I mean if I didn't believe in something I just wouldn't bother about it and get on with my life.
Can't speak for Walminski, but I also get quite frustrated when people talk about their religious beliefs. There are two main reasons for me feeling like that... as a scientist I think that there's a natural explanation for everything. So when people invoke some kind of supernatural entity to explain the world it's a bit like an attack on science, which I take quite personally because it is so important to me. I think a lack of evidence for something is more reason to believe that it doesn't exist than it does, but organised religion seems to take the opposite viewpoint...
Secondly, it would be easy to ignore the fact that I don't agree with religious people if I wasn't in contact with them. But the fact is that the two largest monotheistic organised religions, Islam and Christianity, take the view that proselytising is to be actively encouraged. So such people bring their views into contact with me, and this kind of dialogue is never going to be productive. One side taking the view that a belief is to be maintained despite the facts, and the other taking the view that it is constantly up for revision dependent on the facts.
I agree though that atheists often do not differentiate between organised religion and spirituality (if this is the right word), but again I would turn to the evidence. I feel amazed when I consider the complexity of the world, but (based on my psychological background) I don't trust my feelings to tell me anything about the state of that world.