>>>>>>You say you're an atheist - I'm sure you would say that you do not know everything. Would you at least admit the possibility of a God?
>>>>>
>>>>>Admitting the possibility of a God, no matter Its scope, (in)capacities or morality, would imply that I'd have to formulate answers to at least some of the beforementioned quests. I think that would be a tour de force that I'm not capable of. It is far easier to explain things if we dismiss the existence of a God. Do you know of a quest that can easier be answered by a believer than by an atheist?
>>>>
>>>>Sure. Where did we all come from.
>>>>Atheist: Well, see there was this primordial soup and in a confluence of coincidence, luck, and physics, there was an explosion. And then.. and so on.
>>>>
>>>>Believer: It was God's doing.
>>>>
>>>>I still go with the Atheist answer, but almost any question is more easily answered by a believer.
>>>
>>>Here you got me! :)
>>>
>>>But... (I don't give up so quick, as you note(d)) when asking for more and more details, in the end the believer has less and less answers. I hope.
>>
>>No, see, that's the point. The believer always has the same basic answer. As far as I can tell, there are really only about three answers required to be learned. They can be used to answer just about any question you ask.
>>
>>Answer #1. It was God.
>>Answer #2. Because the bible says so.
>>Answer #3. God works in mysterious ways.
>>
>>As an atheist, you have to come up with entirely different answers for every different question.
>>
>>Nope, sorry Peter, for ease of answer, the believers have it all over we atheists.
>
>I can imagine that in former centuries there was not really an alternative to believing. I mean, atheism is viable thanks to the development of science, in particular of the Darwinian theory of evolution. That is not a simple to explain or understand theory, but it can be explained and understood if one really tries. I think we have thought that religion would vanish automatically as a result of the development of science. But we're now in the 21th century and religion is still everywhere. It is now obvious that the atheist group will no longer grow automatically and that atheists must discuss matters pro-actively. You are right that the believers appear to have the easy answers. It is our mission to show that their answers actually are too easy. We can be militant in our mission, but we can also search the softer dialogue...
>
>.. and take a rest at times. :)

It's a lost cause. Humanity has a very real need to believe in superior beings. In many ways it takes responsibility away from one's own actions. It also allows for some protection against the fear of death. It is not a rational response to one's environment; it is an emotional response. As long as human beings have emotions, we will have gods.