Because the bible tells you so?

[Exian]

And you don't necessarily have to have written words to be religious. The anthropological and archaeological record indicates many societies that had religious expressions of animism, totemism, and other basic primitive religious thought processes.

Oh yeah, I'm very familiar with the symbolic cultures that existed in prehistory. As a, and I use this term loosely, theist, my search for god manifested with an historic bent. Learning of the esoteric religions that existed before the standard doctrines existed helped to make me the atheist I am today.

If you are looking to satisfy your own curiosity I suggest learning about the history of how the Torah came to be and how the New Testament came to be. I have learned a lot through my own readings and tangents because of my interest in ancient Middle Eastern history. Studying the Sumerians I learned that nearly all the stories from the first few chapters of Genesis derive from Sumerian and Assyro-Babylonian mythology, which also interests me.

This is about all the knowledge I have, or was curious enough to seek, of the books. I was instinctively disinterested in the details of the things. Even before I was aware of the rules of logic and reason, and without even knowing how to put it into words, I knew my answers wouldn't come from inside the books, but from the times surrounding them. Now I know that this is because they are the claim, not the evidence. Funny how we can instinctively "feel" the disconnect, and yet not be able to explain it. At least, that's how it was for me a long time ago.

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Pyrrho: You're absolutely right. I call all such arguments rationalisations, a defence mechanism for a predawn conclusion. And since the conclusion doesn't depend on these arguments, rebutals don't mean anything to them.

I'd be far more interested in the real reasons people believe, but on the whole they seem reluctant to discuss them in detail. Could this be because they really don't know what the reason is, or that they are worried it will sound irrational?

Once again, Rob, "That's a bingo." Either they've never really thought about it, and they go into a defensive mode to protect their belief, subconsciously, or they have thought about it and know damn well it's silly and irrational.

But this is why I have opened it up a bit. If any theists do decide to take on my questions, I want them to tell me whatever is in their gut. I don't want to hear some shored up version.

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When I see my fellow atheists on here arguing with theists, and they're able to recall exact passages, I'm thinking "How the fuck?"

Um....fucking google, man.

Ah-HA! I fucking knew it! All you atheists are all the same. Pseudo-Intellectual chumps!