(December 27, 2017 at 3:02 am)surreptitious57 Wrote: I am atheist rather than agnostic though because there is precisely zero evidence for God and evidence is the basis upon which I decide whether or not something exists
Not trying to beat a dead horse, but...
Agnosticism and atheism are NOT mutually exclusive positions. They are not 'one or the other' labels.
Atheism describes what one believes, or more specifically, does not believe.
Agnosticism describes what one claims to know, or is knowable.
In other words, it is possible to disbelieve in the existence of gods, but still not take the position that it is unknown (and possibly unknowable) whether gods exists. Most atheists (I believe) take this position. This is described as "agnostic atheism", which is perfectly valid. As is "agnostic theism".
Carry on...
You'd believe if you just opened your heart" is a terrible argument for religion. It's basically saying, "If you bias yourself enough, you can convince yourself that this is true." If religion were true, people wouldn't need faith to believe it -- it would be supported by good evidence.
