I am slightly confused. Is Dantes Torment the only atheist in this discussion?

No, I know for a fact that Pi(e) is one as well

All the other atheists are just shy ;)

Atheist here.

I, for one, believe in the Flying Spaghetti Monster

That's not nice. I know you can be more respectful next time. I believe in you!

That's a joke.

I consider myself an atheist (the avatar was probably a bit of a giveaway), but I'm not very good at organizing arguments in a forum setting, so I abstained from commenting.

Nope. We're just tired of the same interminable argument, so we're saving our keystrokes for discussions of merit.

I think most of us tend to adopt that stance whether we're atheist or not. The God debate's been taking place for millennia with no noticeable ground gained on either side. In all likelihood, we won't "know" until the day we die, and perhaps not even then.

I quite agree. When forced to declare a position, I usually plump for "militant Agnostic", described as "I don't know, but you don't know either."

www.venganza.org

I tend to stay away from religious discussions, simply due to people's unalterable viewpoints. That's what I hate about arguing with nerds or 'debate team' people. Even if you have a good point, they won't listen to you. Which is why I usually try to fence-sit on religious arguments.

Oh, dantes-torment, I thought you would appreciate my relating philosophy to the scientific method. :)

One just has to look around to know that there is some sort of higher power. A God.

Could you give me your glasses prescription? What exactly do you see when you look around that implies that there is a god(s)?

I see the opposite: if you look around, you see there is none.

(Only a flying spaghetti monster)

May you all be touched by his noodly appendage, R'amen.

Look around. The complexity of all life out there is amazing. If you dont belive in God, you would be an idiot to think there is not some sort of higer power.

Ad hominems have no place here.

Whatever that means. I dont care about it. I am trying to make a point.

What is a flying spaghetti monster?

Ad Hominem explained.

What eofpi was saying is that while you may have been trying to make a point you did not and the manner in which you stated your opinion means that people are less likely to take you seriously (because you have arbitrarily attacked individuals instead of using facts to support your claim).

To be clear on this: I believe in God; I'm not responding to belittle your belief. I'm responding because we try to preserve some amount of respect for each other on the forum and you're new enough that it's fair you might not realize that yet. What you said not only disrespected everyone that disagreed with you but also eofpi by summarily dismissing his statement without actually understanding that he was saying. Do play nice, please?

You don't know about the FSM? Hand me my pirate gear.

I am sorry. I do not wish to offend anyone. I am used to chatting in forums where if you dont come in with an agressive attitude, you get swept to the side. I hope you will forgive me. I do, however, stand firm in the fact that there is a God, and I will not change my standpoint. I just find it foolish that people think that our world, in all its beauty and complexity, came about by something other than a higher power.

Oh, sorry, I was just joking.

Sorry for the double post, had a formatting error and then accidentally hit "Quote" instead of "Edit".

Well, drat. My attempt at fixing the doublepost seems to have nuked yours. Back button, resubmit?