True, but to be an atheist, you don't have to deny that God COULD exist. I believe that God could exist, it's just much more likely that He doesn't (at least, in the way we define Him).
Either way, the idea of heaven and hell seems like such a carrot and stick, and if I need that reward to follow God, then I don't see why I would follow him at all. I'm not saying that religious people follow God for the promise of heaven-like you said, Jews don't necessarily believe in afterlife, and many Christians don't believe in a hell at all-but I think hell and heaven are part of what make Christianity such a powerful idea.
In the same vein as commenter above me, I think that choosing agnosticism is more akin to getting off the pot, and faith and atheism are just two colors of the same shit.
Reading this, I kept feeling like I should comment, and now that I'm here, I don't know that I have anything worthwhile to say. Your arguments are excellent
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I don't think religion has anything to do with being "ignorant." My uncle is one of the most intelligent people I know. He explained his belief that an idea of God is present in all humans from birth by God's design. Maybe that's true, but I don't feel anything in my subconscious telling me that God exists.
And yes, the world of academia definitely looks down its nose at religion.
The truth is that we all take religion at our own speed. Atheists, agnostics, deists, believers, fundamentalists...we all have a place on this spectrum of belief.
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Either way, the idea of heaven and hell seems like such a carrot and stick, and if I need that reward to follow God, then I don't see why I would follow him at all. I'm not saying that religious people follow God for the promise of heaven-like you said, Jews don't necessarily believe in afterlife, and many Christians don't believe in a hell at all-but I think hell and heaven are part of what make Christianity such a powerful idea.
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And yes, the world of academia definitely looks down its nose at religion.
The truth is that we all take religion at our own speed. Atheists, agnostics, deists, believers, fundamentalists...we all have a place on this spectrum of belief.
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