To want the Gideons to get the #### out of my child's school

[PatriarchyPersonified]

As I have made clear on threads on here in the past, I am an atheist (I'm actually a strong anti-theist) and I believe in the secularisation of society. (i.e religion can be there for people who want it but it should be irrelevant to anybodies day to day life unless they want to make it relevant.)

I believe that children should be taught about religions in school, as part of a comprehensive RE syllabus, and particularly about Christianity, as I believe from a cultural and historical perspective, it is impossible to fully understand the history and culture of the UK without reference to the bible. I would feel the same way about the Qu'ran if I lived in an Arab country btw.

What I am not happy about is that my oldest DC (12) has just had the bloody Gideon Society hosting an assembly in their school and dishing out Bibles! School is not the place for this. There is a reason why religious groups always target schools and prisons, its where the easy targets are.

'Is there a creator or not?'
That is a sensible question GoldenBowl. And like most atheists I am open to the answer. Now someone just needs to put forward some evidence for a creator that can be investigated. Until then...

I'm suggesting we can't know for sure which it is
I agree we cant know anything for sure we just have to go with the evidence. And so far the scales are firmly on one side and have been for a very long time now.

Why does that make you so angry?

Because theists try and frame bias questions that presuppose the answer. And make it seem like the chances of a creator are at least 50:50 when the lack of any evidence suggest they are more like 0.01% - 99.99%

Of course it's fine if you want to prioritise science type questions
What is a science type question? either is a sensible question or it isn't.
eq, What causes earthquakes is a sensible question. Who causes earthquakes is not.
So to say 'unless you prove that earthquakes are accidental then god is causing them', is a nonsensical thing to say but its exactly the sort of thing theists do say.

it's worth keeping an open mind rather than categorically rubbishing all religion
There is a difference between an open mind and a deluded mind. I am open to a supernatural being with the power to cure cancer and chooses not to but I wont stop going to see my doctor, wont be getting my hopes up and will live every day as if its my last because I have not seen any evidence to suggest otherwise. And I will continue to get pissed off at people who say 'its gods plan' because well ... he loves you.

Any yes/no question has two possible answers

Not true. There is also, "I don't know".

But any question needs to make logical sense and have all terms properly defined. What do you mean by "creator"? Would you consider two atoms bumping together in another universe which subsequently results in our Big Bang a "creator"? Or do you specifically want/need a thinking, sentient force?

You cannot prove that something non-existent is non-existent. Things that don't exist leave no evidence trail so there's nothing that can be brought to the table to prove it's non-existence. Which is why, "You can't prove God doesn't exist" is such an illogical thing to say. It is absolutely devastating to the God Hypothesis that we cannot prove it doesn't exist....because the reason for that is the complete and total lack of any evidence that it does.

"God" has everything in common with non-existent things (like unicorns and leprechauns) and nothing in common with real world beings (like elephants and pandas). That is significant.

To continue to believe in God under these circumstances is not remotely "open minded". It is, in fact, supremely closed-minded. Belief is an active thing....and tying your colours to a mast when you have no good reason to is basically saying, "Well, I don't care what the evidence does or doesn't say. This is what I want to believe, so I am going to. And because, in my heart, I know this makes me sound like an idiot I shall call my position "faith" and insist everyone respects me for it".

Atheists are the open minded ones, I'm afraid. Every one of us could have our minds changed in a millisecond if anyone could present some testable, verifiable evidence....but, thus far, no one can.