I have never liked the term "atheist". It was first used by the Church, who said that it meant "somebody who did not believe in god", the point being that it also implied that there were people who did believe in the existence of god (theists) - thus "proving" that god must exist. Maybe I am not expressing myself well, but as god is clearly a man-made (I'm nor being sexist - the church, until recently, has always been anti-women and was developed as a means of controlling women) construct, it seems pointless to discuss the matter with others who cannot see this. My daughter studied religion as part of her first degree course at Leeds. She once explained how the Church had various "proofs" for the existence of god. When I queried these, she added that, in fact, it was impossible to prove these proofs"!

Pity that MGM is no longer with us. I'm sure that he would have enjoyed this thread!