As you probably already knew, arguing with - or even having simple conversations with - overly fervent religious people is very frustrating and often impossible. They’ve shut off their ability to use reason and have brainwashed themselves with self-referential, post-rationalized ‘thinking’. They’ve crossed a line, the same line the atheist crosses. Only an agnostic can be certain. Actually I look at scientists as agnostic in their stance towards the future - open to new discoveries through experimentation and observation.
Thanks for the breath of fresh air, sword! Actually, I am more an agnostic existentialist with heavy atheist leanings. I touched on this in an earlier post. I just referred to myself as an atheist for simplicity’s sake. I got exactly the reaction I knew I would. I mean, I guess a God could exist, and not care about us at all, and hide his existence from us if he wanted to. (But why would he do this? - it’s crazy!) My point is that there is no evidence at all for his existence, unless you want to count the deluded opinions of people that can’t even acknowledge blatant logical contradictions in the very scripture they quote, never mind the scientific ones, which are legion, for they are many (grin). In order to be a true, full atheist, you would have to have proof that God does not exist, and I don’t see how this is possible. All you can say that, judging from all the available scientific and common-sense evidence - is that it looks like he just isn’t there. You are right about science, it’s a grand adventure of discovery leading us into the future – not the boat anchor of false dogma that would weight us down into the depths, if we let it, like some people do.