Even if theism is a failure, it's still superior to atheism

[Ahriman]

Really? Limiting your objection's applicability to a specific type of entity without good reason for doing so is a version of the logical fallacy called "special pleading". Pretty sure you are aware that you believe lots of things that cannot be proven such as other people having minds or perhaps that the past is gone is some meaningful sense. Granted it sounds clever, as an atheist meme, but fallacious just the same.

Back to the OP though, if for the sake of argument we say theism is false, then perhaps it is false in the same way that ownership and solidity are - convenienct fictions grounded in strong intuitions. Atomic theory tells us the belief in solid objects, as in conguious substance, is an illusion. Rap any table! Look me in the eye and tell ell me you believe the table is mostly empty space. Your intellect may say you believe that but instinctually you know it's "solid" wood. And I dare you to argue with a two year old that his toys aren't really "his" and do not have the intangibible quality of belonging to him. So while we may have many false intuitions, theism among them, that does not mean that are not useful. I can imagine many useful side-effects of theism such as fostering community, providing a psychological way to deal with the unknowable, etc. I can also think of many bad side-effect of rigid dogma and intolerance. Secular ideologies also seem to have a religious feel to them, which would argue against my position but I do not see that as a major objection.

Not that I have a dog in the fight of proving that theism somehow spares one from misery. As I see Chrisitianity, the believers paths is often towards hardship and suffering, as the lives of the Saints demonstrate. For this reason, I would not try to sell religion on the notion that your life will be more pleasant. Far from...

I quite like the analogy made between arguing theism and arguing with a two year old child. Very apropos.

Boru

Most religious people are really not that stupid. Delusional, of course, but not stupid. A two year old child isn't delusional, he/she just has what an adult would consider an overactive imagination.