Gosh, Dave, you must be so pleased to have Ed jump to your defence so promptly! With friends like that... A couple of thoughts. First, if you're scared of putting your point of view lest your message be misunderstood, then why post to these threads at all? Second, the rigidity in these debates is all on the side of the Christians. Just look at Pete, for example. Debating with him is like trying to grab a greased pig at best and, at worst, like trying to piss into a strong wind. I'm not rigid at all. I have my convictions, 'tis true, and I'll argue for them, but I am open to persuasion. All I need is evidence. I've said it so many times. You'll find an awful lot of atheists just like me. We don't do rigid dogma but we do require evidence for claims made apropos of God/visions/miracles/cures/apparitions and the rest. A very reasonable stance. We positively eschew the rigidity of religious doctrine, which is executed with hands joined, eyes tight shut and face skywards. In fact, we hate rigidity!