Yes, oftentimes if you chop of the beginning and end of a sentence or chop out the middle, you can make it mean something completely different. I could do the same thing with one of your sentences. And if people really feel like they have to get pissed off at me about something and they want to dig for something, sure, they can bring that up. But they can't even use that as proof because all I have to do is quote the whole sentence and it completely negates their claim.

I have proved it, every conversation I've had here has stayed civil and not erupted into an argument no matter how the person treated me or my beliefs and what their own beliefs are. Even with the last person to point out that same sentence. I've gotten to have some very in depth conversations about religion and other people's beliefs already.

I'm offering to be open-minded with people here. If they really want to bring up the middle of a sentence, while ignoring the fact that I just called my own actions stupid and pointless, then I can ignore their attempts to anger me.

Well I'd certainly stand up for my belief if I were in a debate, but right now I'm just offering to be open-minded. :3 And perhaps a bit to show people that its not what you believe that shapes you. Just because one atheist is an asshole doesn't mean all of them are. See? I'm not an asshole. The same goes for other religions and beliefs.

XD I find that teacher very interesting, and at the same time I like how he looks at that. I almost envy people who can jump into their own religion or belief as something that seemed to have been made for them. X3 Most people have to struggle to discover what it is they believe. Sometimes I think religion complicates life more than it needs to, and at the same time religion, and non-religion are, in the most basic sense, just different ways of understanding the world around you. We all choose to understand life the best we can. I think everyone thinks their belief is superior to others XD Otherwise why would we believe it?

So, 'I am atheist.' will spark a debate as well as 'I am completely open to know what you think and why.'
And while yes, people have already pointed out both of these and said something about it, none of those turned into debates. *shrugs* people have already insulted my belief here multiple times, and yet, no debate, no insulting back, no arguing. People have challenged my openness to other people's opinions, but I didn't challenge back, and thus no debates and no arguments. Yes at some point two other people here will no doubt start arguing or debating over something and there is little I can do about it, but I won't be starting any debates. My sole purpose here is to find the few people who want to be able to talk about their religion without being insulted, and I've actually already found a couple, so I consider this worthwhile.

And I'm quite happy to hear from some Christians who don't immediately insult atheism or continually provide quotes from the bible ^.^ (Not that its wrong to provide quotes, but it rubs on the nerves when one has to point out multiple times that bible quotes are only proof for people who believe in the bible. Just as quotes from any other religious text would only apply to people in that religion, not just the bible)

Yes, I've always found religion to have many comforting aspects (not that its bad to have those ^.^) The knowledge you will go to heaven, the knowledge that someone is there for you watching, caring for, and leading you. Knowing your sins are forgiven, having 'right' and 'wrong' set down in a book in black and white. It is comforting to have things regimented (believe me, I know what having a regimented life is like, its my job XD) And there isn't anything wrong with liking these things and finding comfort in them. In the end, we are all just understanding the world around us in different ways. Half of me cannot live life without understanding things logically, and the other half of me loves fantasy. That logical half of me made it impossible for me to believe in religion, even when my other half wanted it more than anything. I have no doubt that if my logical half just wasn't so loud and demanding, that I'd be Christian. Funny how life likes to work. XP

I've always understood trolling as doing or saying something simply to make the other person angry. Though I admit my choice of words up there isn't the best. I'm not expecting nice debates, I expect debates to get heating and angry, I expect people to present points and argue over things in debates. Mostly what I'm offering here, is to listen to someone without judging them or accusing their beliefs of being wrong. Pretty much just offering to be completely open-minded. Not to mean that if I were in a debate I would continue to be open-minded, though I am more naturally open-minded than aggressive, in a debate I would most certainly be more assertive.

Though I think my original post has not been written in the best way, I sometimes have a hard time converting thoughts to words X3 I would re-write the whole thing if I could to make it clearer. >.< But I do understand your point.

I certainly wouldn't consider that a stupid question. I think it is perhaps partially all of those, though mostly through my own experiences. I know everyone has probably come about to their own conclusions differently, but I think what it was for me was a conflict going on in my head. One side wanted to believe god was real while the other didn't. To shorten up the story a bit, basically I did a ton of thinking on each point, trying to dig up some sort of answer, and I looked at both sides, talked to people who were religious and those who weren't. And in the end I realized it was impossible for me to believe in god simply because my mind refuses to let me. While I still want to believe god is real, my mind refuses to believe that as fact, and thus, I cannot believe god is real. For some people believing is god is easier. They no longer have to question a lot of things about life, like how we came to be or what happens after we die. They don't have to worry about not existing after we die, and they have set rules on what is right and what is wrong. I'm not downgrading that, in fact I completely understand it. But with me believing in god made things harder, and while yes in some ways atheism is easier, so is religion. Its all how you look at it.

I would see having my own rules as making up a religion. Atheism has rules, perhaps not ones set out in a book in black and white, but there are indeed rules. We don't just run around saying 'I'm an atheist I can do whatever I like! No rules no rules!' But I think they are harder to understand and explain then those set down in religion. Yes there is more freedom in atheism, but not so much it would be a legitimate reason to become atheist.

As for a smarter way to live, well I think a lot of atheists look at it that way. They might say 'Atheism is smarter because it is logical' or 'Atheism is smarter because we are not clouded by unreal beliefs' Well, I'm sure they can word it in a much ruder way but thats not my point, my point is, some atheist look at religion as 'ignoring the truth'. I think of religion more as a way to understand the world around you. When you look at religion and atheism in a completely unbiased way, all people do is choose how they want to interpret the world around them. I prefer to interpret it in a way my brain can agree with, and my brain refuses to believe anything unless it is logical. I can't change that. My brain prefers things it can see and understand. Other people prefer to interpret the world differently, its not my place to judge which way is the smarter way.

I'm not sure that that came out completely right, especially the last part. I refer to my brain as a separate being while I think of it more as something that is part of me, but then that I am split into two parts. And when I refer to my brain I refer to the the more logical concrete part, while the other part of me has a passion for dragons and fantasy. I'm not sure it came out completely right though, I often have a hard time finding the right word to describe something or it doesn't flow from head to text in the right way.

But curious is good. I am too, thats why I made this thread XD So we can all be curious together and learn of different opinions and ask questions and see how other people understand it.