"Presumably, the Christian "god" also has a heart, though I, personally, have seen no evidence of this to date."
If he caused humanity to exist and if humans have an alleged heart or metaphoric heart motivation , and if the census is vaguely close to scientific accuracy and if perception of humanity existing is not illusion , then just maybe there are 6-8 billion little tickers rattling away through the cholesterol, alcohol and benzol. More on the way.

Loudmouth.
Your contribution to this thread has been interesting. It occurs to me that the understanding of God as triune, dispenses with the undifferentiated monotheism that is at the basis of your atheism. This is something that I continually fail to get across and is a barrier to any useful theological discussion. It is as if many cling to an understanding of god that is not Christian in order to maintain their opposition. Atheism may seem like firm ground until we really come to grips with the Christian understanding of God. To let go of atheism is to be exposed to the full force of what the Church has been saying for centuries in its better moments.

Loudmouth is to smart to be an atheist. Agnostic yes atheist no. Most atheist at least here on olo spend much energy in misrepresenting, denying and cursing the God they claim not to believe in. They know it is Him they will face one day despite their tantrums.

Dear Sells,

The understanding of the nature of God is not really a real question. In "The Jesus Wars" Philip Jenkins writes of the fifth century struggles that determined the Christian understanding of deity. It is a fascinating book and makes the case the Christian understanding of God was determined by the faction that could bring the most physical force in putting forth their viewpoint.

However, there is absolutely no evidence that God is anything more than a creation of the human mind. There is no evidence for the existence of the Christian God, the Jewish God, The Muslim God, Thor, Jupiter, Zeus etc. Some give children the myths of the tooth fairy and Santa Claus. Such myths may make their childhood more pleasant. However, it also can build distrust when a child realises that the tooth fairy and Santa Claus are nothing but lies. I regard belief in a deity of any sort as an instance of immaturity. I don't believe it is good for an adult to have the outlook of a child. I can understand Sells holding onto the myth of deity. As an Anglican deacon it is a large part of his life. However, I wish others would simply grow up and put away childish beliefs.

Hi Runner,

You suggest that I'm too smart to be an atheist. You over-estimate me, I AM an atheist. So your premise is false, unless you re-phrase it to: "Loudmouth is dumb enough to be an atheist". Yeah, that should do it.

But I think you are right to an extent when you suggest that many of the children on OLO "spend much energy in misrepresenting, denying and cursing the God they claim not to believe in. They know it is Him they will face one day despite their tantrums." I agree, that many can't seem to get over some half-witted either-or schema that one is either right (and therefore with them), or wrong (and therefore some sort of bible-basher). No other discussion required.

I suggest to them that there is no god. No, no, there isn't. Never has been. So why go on and on and on and on and on about it as if it's the only dog you've got to kick ? Try to get beyond it and see what other explanations may be possible. It's a complex world, and none of us has time for childish nya-nya.

Joe

runner,

Atheism and agnosticism are not mutually exclusive.

Joe,

This is a good question, and one I’ve answered a few times in great detail.

<<...there is no god ... So why go on and on and on and on and on about it...?>>

The short answer is because some people believe that a god does exist. Beliefs inform actions and actions have consequences. These people don’t live in a vacuum. While you’ll rarely ever reach theists, fence-sitting onlookers will often be persuaded by good arguments. The more mobilisation against bad ideas we can create, the more reluctant those with bad ideas will be to voice them and the less harm they will do.