I’m an atheist. So why can’t I shake God?

[athrock]

Is atheism really only one step away from monotheism?

I would have thought that was two steps: atheism > theism > monotheism.

Even three if you place deism before theism.

Just thinking out loud...not quarreling with you.

I suspect he meant that atheism is closer to monotheism because of the reduction of deities over polytheism.  You've rid yourself of every god dreamt of by man except one.  We're ahead of you by one.

Exactly right Whatev.

We are all atheists about most of the gods that humanity has ever believed in. Some of us just go one god further.

Which has never impressed me as an argument for Atheism.

That's like calling a married man a bachelor...except for the one woman who is his wife.

But in fact, life is full of situations wherein we examine multiple options...cars, job offers, apartments, etc....and we choose the one we deem to be the best.

You may have spent more time studying the brochures when you purchased your last washing machine than you have spent studying the claims of the world's greatest religions.

But as an ATHEIST, your choices are even more simple: it's not a question of choosing WHICH of the many variations of God you will accept but whether you will accept ANY version of God. And if you reject the notion of a god like Zeus or Marduk, fine; you have just rejected polytheism in favor of monotheism. It IS a winnowing process of sorts.

For this reason (and others), I think that philosophical arguments are far more useful to someone who is attempting to decide the binary God/No God question.