Believe:

[Kyuuketsuki]

I think God (gods, Goddess, goddesses...) exists in the realm of thought. Of idea. And anything that exists only as an idea, thought or interpretation cannot be proven or unproven.

Yet there is a group in Japan (as I recall) who has managed to get images from peoples brains, from their thoughts ...granted the technology is very primitive as yet but one might venture to suggest that what you say above is wrong (only subject to technological limitations). There is nothing magical about thought, about brain function and about mind ... indeed, that a few thousand scientific periodicals are published on mind/brain to relevant scientists, rather implies we know a great deal more than some would like to admit.

Whether or not we all live in our own little world, separate from one another (only as misinterpretations of the One Real World that we cannot fully comprehend) is an idea. It cannot be literally proven or dis-proven. It can seem 100% to me one way, but that does not make it real, in the sense that the screen I am looking at is real.

Er, I'm sorry ... this "one real world" ... what is it? Can you be more specific?

All evidence, regardless of it's simplicity or obviousness, has to pass through the veil of personal reality.

Perhaps, but some evidence isn't validatable, some is incompatible with the assertion made and some is just fictional.

I completely understand atheism as you defined it, I spent years as an agnostic atheist.

Not trying to be funny here Pippy but this is something frequently claimed by theists and I've always found somewhat suspicious because it's thrown out almost like a weapon e.g. I was once like you and then I saw the truth. In essence it's just another non-validatable claim, pointless and meaningless in a forum such as this.

The only part I really don't understand is the concept of non-belief. I am not sure if you can add 'non' as a prefix and say it's wholly the opposite of the prior word (good/ungood). I only see belief. And disbelief, which is a semantic clarification, but still literally belief. I can't see that atheists have a black spot in their heads where others have belief. Please, if you would, explain the concept more.

It's simple enough.

Theist: I believe in or am with god/gods
Atheist: I'm not!

Nothing about the atheist statement says he/she specifically says there are no gods, just that he/she doesn't accept claims to their existence.

In essence the person who claims there are no gods is every bit as wrong as the person who claims there are ... neither has any validatable evidence.

I read the post you suggested, and I understand all of those points as well. I don't think atheists are ALL rude or immoral or anything. That would be silly. The only thing that stood out at me was "...but a good understanding of science does tend to lead people to disbelief,". I agree that it tends to lead people, but if I may, for the record, state that I went the route of understanding science (and philosophy and history and politics) and came to the conclusion of belief. Even if I am the only one, please allow me to be the exception.

No one is stopping you believing whatever you want but it is worth pointing out that you have chosen to come to this, an atheism forum, and you have chosen to say what it is you believe ... from my POV (and I suspect others are much the same) I respect your wish to believe what you want but what I cannot respect is the belief itself as it has no greater merit than the belief there is a cream cake at the core of the Earth.

Kyu