Theism is literally childish

[emjay]

The larger point is that atheists putting theistic beliefs in the same category as a serious mental illness is a mild form of anti-religious bigotry.

On that I would agree.

For the record, my usage of the term 'delusion' in this context was never meant to imply mental illness, serious or otherwise; it was as I described it; the beliefs surrounding smoking for example... and the way they are irrationally maintained. That is what I consider a delusion in this context; it refers to specific beliefs and the manner in which they are held, rather than as a wholesale judgment against a person; you could call me deluded for smoking, and yeah maybe I'd be pissed, and probably tell you to mind your own, but I would not take it either as you calling me mentally ill or as an attack on my person as a whole. If you were lucky then maybe I'd take notice when it was called out, and start to examine my beliefs surrounding smoking and maybe try to quit, but more often than not I would probably just go and have a fag and forget all about it, such is the nature of delusion to ignore stuff... until the next time... or until something on my end, bad health perhaps, prompted me to revisit it again.

My point was only about what I find credible/convincing evidence rationally, to me, personally; that just as I do not expect to be considered credible/convincing to others when I'm showing signs of being 'under the influence' as it were, of an emotionally/irrationally driven belief system like the delusion that surrounds smoking, I likewise do not find others credible/convincing when they display similar signs.

If you still want to call me bigoted, that's fine, but I just want you to be clear on my position before you make that judgment.