Both the "Atheists" and people like myself seem to be considered a threat by some of those of a religious bent, who cannot resist trying to pigeonhole us into a stereotype to which they can justifiably feel superior.

I've been wondering if the believers' desire to believe that atheists "believe" in the same way that believers do is due to the believers believing somewhere deep inside that their world view is not part of an evidence-based reality. In order to make themselves feel better about being irrational in this way, they want to believe that the rational people around them are as guilty as they of believing. It feels sometimes like they are apologizing for their belief by accusing others of sharing it. This is, of course, a very general statement and worth about the same as any other general statement when it comes to describing any individual.

Being a believer in some greater presence (call it a Deity for convenience)

What I'd like to discuss with both Christians and agnostics is what each individual actually believes and why. It's hard to have a conversation about god when the word can be defined in so many different ways. I myself am aware that there is a greater force that informs the universe and which can be experienced by human beings in a mystical/spiritual/religious way. I would never call this force a deity, since 'deity' implies, for me, consciousness, personality, ability to be communicated with, and active participation in the lives of humans. For many (most?) people who use the word, it also implies the ability and willingness to perform miracles that break the laws of physics. What I don't know is if you feel those same implications when you use the word 'deity'. Discussion without definition is bound to be fraught with misunderstanding. I also used the words 'mystical', 'spiritual', and 'religious' above. Does anyone know what I mean when I use them in that context?

Theoretical discussions, in some ways, can't bring us any closer to understanding each other or ourselves; as I noted earlier, they rarely provide an accurate description of any individual. Maybe we could start with the belief that the Bible presents literal facts and work out from there. From the non-believer standpoint, that would have to be the default assumption if someone says they are a Christian. I know, of course, that most Christians don't have any such belief (at least not the Christians I'm acquainted with), but I don't know where anyone draws their lines unless they tell me.

Anyone want to get real? What do you believe?