Feardie faithists forgo facing ferocious freethinkers...

[sandyRoe]

Why do the freethinkers always field their first eleven while the faithful hardly seem able to muster a scratch side?

[missnemesis]

Pardon?

[shoota]

I think that they must all be at their devotions.

[sandyRoe]

I was wondering why the believers don't make a better fist of defending their corner.

[Canary42]

Because they're Friendly Folk, Frequently Falling Foul of Faithless Frenzied F*******s

[Booldawg]

tired of batting against the same old set pieces!

[missnemesis]

I think because they are happy in their faith and feel no need to shout it from the rooftops or ram it down other people's throats, unlike the fundamentalists (from both sides of the divide).

[naomi24]

Sandy, I would be delighted if someone came along with a real argument in support of their faith. If there was one I'm sure we'd be inundated.

Canary’s comment is interesting, don’t you think? I wonder which religion he adheres to? Can’t be the one that pretends to promote love for one's fellow man, can it?

[sandyRoe]

It reeks of Free Presbyterianism.

[naomi24]

Ha ha! Could be!

[Davethedog]

Before you can argue a point, you have to have one to argue.

Having said that if you are secure in your faith why argue? Us godless b^£$(3)s are going to get ours are we not?

[ludwig]

Because it's not a fair fight. Religion is pretty much indefensible, so not many bother to try. Attacking it on the other hand is like shooting fish in a barrel.

[ummmm]

Just going by this site I find the Atheists are far knowledgeable on the subject.

[jomifl]

Because they have lost faith?

[Father-Ted]

They don't need to the Almighty doesn't need their help.

[naomi24]

^^ Oh dear. Where would the Almighty be without the faithful? Knock, knock. Is there anybody there?

[jomifl]

As the 'Almighty' only exists as a figment of the imagination of believers, his lack of manifestation must be as a result of insufficient belief on the part of his adherents. :-)

[birdie1971]

Probably because there are far more 'freethinkers' than most polls would suggest but mostly because of the nature of non-belief.

As atheists can't fall back on simplistic scriptural stories which neatly package up most moral and scientific matters into a convenient belief bubble which requires very little intelligence to understand, they have to rely much more on their own capacity for reason to rationalise the world they find themselves in. This (in my experience) often makes atheists far more inquisitive about science and theology than their theistic counterparts. Hence, they read more about such matters and often become rather well informed about such things.

This is not to suggest that people who believe in god are less intelligent than those without belief. It's just that those who do believe often haven't been encouraged or motivated to ask the really difficult questions which demand more of an explanation than, “God Did It”.

[naomi24]

//It's just that those who do believe often haven't been encouraged or motivated to ask the really difficult questions which demand more of an explanation than, “God Did It”.//

Or perhaps they know they won’t get the answers they want.

[Zabadak]

It just gets too boring after a while. There's only so many times you can say "terribly sorry, but I disagree" when people stonewall arguments with "it's all a fairytale, innit". The turning point for me came when I tried to make a reasoned point about the reality of prayer for a broad spectrum of Chileans during and after the miners' rescue. One contributor not a million miles away from this entry from it stomped all over it with "YOUR GOD DID NOTHING!!!" - I quote exactly, capitals included, though I might have the number of !s wrong. It was pretty well then that the scales fell from my eyes and I decided "what's the point?" Too much like the Python sketch "Is this the place for an argument?" Sorry.