Well, a survey was given and the same old teams have donned their uniforms and gear...AND they're off! And getting nowhere fast.

A couple of points got me to thinking. One is that agnostics and atheists seem to know as much or more about "religion" than adherents and believers. The other is that atheists and agnostics are drawn like moths to the flame whenever something about faith is posted. What would be my response if I were really a decided non-believer?

If I grew up not believing, I most likely would not respond at all. Why should I? I would not care what others thought or felt about the subject nor would I try to convince someone they were wrong or that I was correct in my thinking. There are so many things in the world that could capture my attention and so many other matters of timely importance that it most likely would not reach even the threshold of curiosity.

The other group would be those who have been raised under a "religious" influence. Theirs would be a more complex picture. You would have to consider matters such as: 1) Which religion(s) are they rejecting? 2) What aspect of the religion do they reject? 3) Are there any other psychological factors in their opposition? 4) Have they looked in depth at their religion or at all religion?

Not an exhaustive list to be sure but I would conclude this. It acounts for WHY atheists and agnostics have parity in knowledge or even surpass folks who purport to have religious convictions. After all, the unexamined life is not worth living! Right? But I still run up against the problem of "response" as with those who were unschooled in any religion and reject religion and God altogether. It seems to me that if someone has really ultimately decided to not believe, it would no longer be of any concern to them.

So why the morbid fascination with a discussion about faith or a survey about religion? If you truly do NOT believe why not just go your way and leave those who do to wallow in their collective imagination? Could it be that you really do have some part of your being that is not convinced that there are things beyond you knowledge that do or may have a real existence? That would put you in the agnostic boat and not in the atheist category. Or is it that you have a deep-seated hostility against God and or religion? Do you feel superior to those who believe and want to rub their noses in it? Why the seeming fascination?

And to the agnostics, why are you still looking? You should know by now that matters of faith are not really subject to pure logical thought. That is why it is called faith. The two can never truly intersect in a way that will allow reason to triumph over faith by proving one way or the other. Rational answer comes by why of the rigorous application of scientific thought(although I would argue here that modern theoretical physics has far exceeded religious thought in imagination and speculation as to the true, ultimate reality). So why don't you leave it alone?

And I would submit that this IS the true test that you are truly an atheist or an unbeliever: That you do not respond to matters of faith and religion. It does not leave you hot or cold but just dissinterested. Otherwise, you are maybe not being honest with yourself.