Please describe your god's loyalty reward scheme.

[Edwardo Piet]

Yes but I don't think the atheists who take religious belief seriously are being sensible. I think the fact that no one ever (whether atheist or theist) takes mythology or the Flying Spaghetti Monster seriously illustrates that.

All Christians, for instance, are atheists with regards to all other conceptions of God. That just demonstrates how silly belief in God is. For them to think their own particular cartoon character is the real one but all the others are just cartoons. The same applies to other religions of course.

I don't believe in other religions or other gods, but I'd still be interested in talking to a Buddhist or a Hindu, etc, about their religious beliefs in genuine discussion. I think it would be interesting to hear their views. I certainly wouldn't ask them questions just so i could mock the answers they took time to give me, and be sarcastic and condecending towards them. But that's just me I guess.

Nor would I. But I would say things to make a point.

Seriously though, it would be dishonest if I pretended to take Christianity any more seriously than Zeus.

I also notice that you would take Buddhists seriously and genuinely be interested but if someone believed in Zeus which is considered mythology you would consider that different merely because it's less popular. But it's no less absurd. The religions of today are exactly like the mythology of tomorrow.

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We can pray to Him. So, "talk to Him" in that sense. But obviously we don't hear back and can't have a back and forth conversation.  

I'm hardly surprised that you don't hear back.

I can't understand how theists can notice that God's presence is completely indistinguishable from his absence and yet they still believe.

I get the feeling you'd feel very empty without your belief in God and Heaven and souls and free will. I bet you'd feel very empty if you believed this is all there is.

Hell, I feel empty believing this is all there is but I couldn't believe in God even if I wanted to any more than I could believe in Zeus even if I wanted to. Even if I decided I wanted to be deluded (I'd probably make a lot more friends if I was Christian too, there's a lot of Christians in my local area and many people go to church. I may even get a girlfriend more easily if I were Christian) but even if I wanted to believe in Christianity I couldn't no matter how much I wanted to.

I don't want to, but even if I was feeling suicidal (again) without more meaning to my life . . . I still couldn't choose to believe in that nonsense. Even if my life depended on it.

So believers must be completely brainwashed.