Is it a good idea to be an atheist?

[The Reality Salesman01]

And you are absolutely right, an atheist may believe - and not think - he is right. Sorry about this. All the more evidence the atheist at point should not, let us say, disbelieve.

I think you're confusing yourself with this word soup that you've concocted. It's really much less complicated than you're trying to make it.

Let me try to put it to you as plainly as I can.

I don't know or believe or think anything about any ACTUAL Gods. If I had any knowledge of an ACTUAL God, it would be kinda silly for me to walk around pretending I don't believe gods are real.

Currently, I don't even have a clue what you believe about gods, only you do. If later on, you choose to disclose what you believe about gods, I will either believe what you believe, or not. Currently, I believe that some things are real, some things are unlikely, and the things I have good reasons to support, I say I "know". I hold things in all sorts of varying degrees of certainty and all of them are open to revision at any time. If given good reasons to believe something or doubt it, I make my adjustments accordingly.


Here's the part I need you to understand: Of all the things I "believe" to be real or true, gods are not among them.

As I said, I am open to adopting a belief or revising my doubts. If you are so inclined as to engage me in a conversation, then I would be able to find out what you believe. Since I have not heard your belief or your reasons, I cannot and will not presume to know that you are wrong. I don't know if you believe in one God or several, I don't even know your definition of "God" so there's no way I can say anything about what you believe. Throughout our conversation, my attitude toward gods will be entirely based on the reasons you offer in support of the God you believe to be real.


Notice that this entire exchange is not between me and a God, it's between me and you. If I decide to adopt a belief in God, it will be entirely based on whether or not the things you say sound believable. If it turns out that your reasons for your belief are flawed, then I will not be persuaded, and you wouldn't have changed my attitude toward reality. I would continue my life without having reasons to believe in supernatural things. A God may very well be real, but since its existence is not self-evident, the only propositions I have to consider are the ones presented to me by people. I can evaluate human claims just fine and I wouldn't need to know anything about an actual God to do it, only your description.