Ask the Atheist

Short answer: how can you dismiss every other religion so quickly and flatly? That's a LOT to dismiss.

You're assuming two separate things: atheists are wrong, and you are right. By "every other religion" you're referring to about 20,000 different deities humanity has invented, not only from the dozen or so religions the average person can name. Let's not even talk about the infinite number of gods we haven't even thought of yet.

You're not just flipping a loaded coin when you throw in with the God of Abraham. You're throwing a twenty-thousand-sided die and assuming it will come up 16,742 and only 16,742. If Christianity is wrong, atheism is not the only alternative. And the vast majority of those other gods are far less forgiving. Supposing the die comes up 16,731 and it's Baal? We're both screwed.

The sheer number of gods that people have believed in throughout history as strongly as you believe in yours tells us two things. One, if there is a god, any given god is most likely the wrong god. Two, widespread belief in a god doesn't make it the true god or all major gods would be true.

Based largely on this, we acknowledge the non-zero probability of there being some god, and we then dismiss that chance just as you dismiss the chance of being killed by a meteorite today. Not impossible, but just not gonna happen.

Besides, if there is a deity, I'd rather present myself to it with no gods in hand than with a rival god. So in a way, I am willing to be wrong and I've prepared for it as best I can.

Finally, I don't know about you but I can't just believe something because it's good to believe in it. I could pretend, but what would that achieve? I need something to go on.

Cheers.
- SmartLX