Scientific knowledge versus spiritual knowledge

[God of Mr. Hanky]

I am of the position nowadays that debating with theists is futile because they believe for emotional reasons.

Well of course that's true, that what they call "belief" is overwhelmingly emotional, and that those who come here to strut around in t-shirts showing the sygil of their tribes are not people who we can reach. But I became an atheist when I began to realize the need to investigate questions I had on the scientific approach to understanding vs. whatever my elders called "seeking god", and it was only when I began to roam web blogs and a few of the older forums that I found enough information to understand how right I was in questioning the latter. Therefore, arguments which were wasted on the theists in question benefited me greatly, and this is why (when I feel like I can stand it) I try to counteract the false arguments of theists here. There may be lurkers looking on whose liberation from the mental bondage of religious ideas we may contribute to, and failing our input when some clown such as AAA opens up a thread they may very well end up walking away confounded by his nonsense. In a way, our being here makes us responsible for occasionally sanitizing the crap which cannot be removed.

In sum, I don't care about converting determined theists, and I don't expect them to change, but they can be instrumental in helping those who are ready to change. But like a large, sharp blade, they are also dangerous when admitted and allowed to run around loose!