HueBobbs

I'm genuinely interested in these experiments, and would like to see one with data whose results have been repeated.

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" - Arthur C. Clarke. It's not possible to test for the existence of a deity, only to do the reverse, and when someone says 'God did it', to show that it could have happened in a way that doesn't include God.

Evidence strongly suggests that our personalities reside in the meat in our heads. The more we learn about neuroscience and how we make decisions, the more it appears that free will isn't completely free. Radiolab is an excellent radio show about complex topics explained in a simple manner, and in an episode on Choice describes experiments where seemingly irrelevant events impact the decision process. In one experiment, people were given either a two digit number to remember, or a seven digit number to remember. Later on they were offered a choice of two desserts, an apple or a piece of fatty cake. People who had 2 digit numbers to remember consistently chose the apple, while those with 7 digit numbers consistently chose the cake. Simple experiment, but the ramifications on free will...

No, what did I say that led you to believe that? I simply agreed that our "starting place" is greatly influenced by our environment, parents, culture, etc. Statistically speaking, our "ending place" for religious belief is also greatly influenced by parents and local culture. Until Europeans immigrated to North America, no Native American was Christian, Jewish, or Muslim; does that mean that their souls were automatically damned?

If religions had otherwise few negative effects, it would largely be a moot point and you'd never hear from Atheists, but as long as people are dying simply because of religious differences, we argue to try and make the world a better place. If your religion gives you a sense of purpose and doesn't intrude in the lives of those who don't believe as you do, then I'm happy that you do have that sense of purpose for yourself. As for extremists, I don't know of any time an extremist Atheist has killed people because they believed in religion.

I would argue the exact opposite; funerals became much sadder once I became convinced that said person didn't go to a better place, but has simply ceased to exist except in our memories. The idea of an afterlife is comforting, but it feels too intellectually dishonest. With the large possibility for alienation from our friends and families, it's harder right now to be an Atheist in the U.S. than a member of any religion. While I do agree with you somewhat on your idea of how atheism and agnosticism are differentiated, I do think we can carry it a bit further. While it's just as impossible to prove that a god *does* exist than that a god *does not* exist, many people can put their belief in god on a scale of 'God might or might not exist' 'God probably exists', 'God probably does NOT exist'. I would say that people who believe 'God probably does not exist' or 'God almost certainly does not exist' to be able to self-identify as Atheists.