[Allrightnow]

Very interesting discussion going on in here. I would argue that it is not a matter of finding evidence but what you accept as evidence that is critical. An atheist can find no evidence of God in the universe, a religious person may see nothing but evidence of God. Both are merely opinions because neither view can be proven or disproved empirically. Hence the term faith.

As for Islam being a religion, I think it's safe to say it is in the same way it one might say a dictatorship is a form of government. The problem is that it is only purports to be a religion of peace if everyone is in perfect submission to Allah. I'll take Jehovah's Witnesses knocking on my door with literature over Muslims knocking on my building with a plane every time.

[ellery]

Many thanks to all of you for an interesting and intelligent discussion. Andy, are you an athiest? Because atheism is no more of a logical conclusion than is theism --atheism is a wholehearted belief in the absence of God or gods. It seems to me that the only logical belief is agnosticism, i.e., I don't have enough information to know whether or not there's a god. How can the organisms in our earth's petri dish possibly know what lies beyond the laboratory?

That said, I believe...but I acknowledge that it's possible I'm wrong.