I disagree, but only about the nature of the question versus your answer. Your observation is true if they "came to believe" that their deity didn't exist. Sammi79's question seems to me to be asking whether most believers would "come to belive" the nonexistence if proof could indeed be shown. I see these as two different things entirely.

I fit your category of one who "came to believe" in the non-existence of God, though "doubt" is the better word for me than "belief".

On the other hand, a great majority of believers have such great faith that even if some proof could be established, their reaction would be to not accept it and try to disprove it.

How did this turn into a discussion about Obama? :woot::D

Couldn't resist. Back to the original topic.

As would anyone when it comes to their long held and cherished beliefs. Imo it should be difficult to change those.

But "proof" means many things to many people. One person might point to, say a dinosaur fossil, as "proof" that the Bible is wrong about evolution and therefore that God does not exist.

I look at Bibles story of creation, indeed organized Religion itself, as an attempt to explain a concept that is way too advanced for most people to fully understand, especially during the age it was written. It's like how a child might be told that the stork brought their new baby sibling instead of getting into all the mechanics of conception and pregnancy which are too advanced for them to understand at their age.

Good point. Even science has its devout faithful. As there are atheists who also act like true believers.

Yep and some of them display an intolerance akin to the worst religious inquisitor who ever put The Question to a heretic.

That was my point in post #140.

Personally, i think that if there is no god, I would NOT want it to be proven. The reason is, there are many weak willed people. I do not think people are naturally good. For many folks out there, fear of damnation and punishment are the only thing that keeps them in line. Part of society would fall apart in anarchy. Truth or fiction, I think religion does play an important part in society by keeping weak willed people in check. Not everyone needs a crutch, but many do.

Edit: thats not to say the all devoted to a religion are weak willed. But there are many people out there, that the only thing that keeps them from engaging in theivery, rape, murder and the like, is fear of damnation.

And unlike god's believers, they are supported financially and politically by government.

Your point seemed to be that the scientific method is a 'dogma', when in fact you can't have science or any other kind of learning without established rules.

I compared 'some' atheists with 'most' religious fanatics. You compared science with religion, and there is no comparison.

The climate change fiasco should allow you, a thinker, to come to another conclusion regarding science visa vis religion. They are far more similar than not.

You need to explain more deeply. Science can only look at facts and attempt to explain. Any scientist worth his salt knows that today's pet theory may be tomorrow's best joke. If that happens, any good scientist looks at the new evidence and starts over again, trying to put the pieces together.

With religion it's just the opposite. You start with a "Holy Scripture" which by its very nature cannot be proven or disproven, and then attempt to come up with facts that agree with your ideas.

The fact that there are some people who think that way about scientific theories reflects on them, not on the nature of science itself, and they are in the minority. The Scientific Method, which you call 'Dogma' in an attempt to equate it with religion, simply requires that everything be tested and tested again, and that nothing be believed until the facts are all in. The fact that the facts are never all in is something that scientists have to live with.

Faith, on the other hand, relies on the absence of facts, and requires believers to ignore any evidence to the contrary.

Any scientist who acts like a believer runs the risk of not being a scientist for long, and most know it. Any believer who acts like a scientist runs the risk of not being a believer for long, and most are afraid of it.

When did I realize I was God? Well, I was praying and I suddenly realized I was talking to myself.
-- Peter OToole

:rotfl2: One of my favorites.

With so many god's it is a wonder humans exist at all.

With so many humans, it's a wonder there aren't more gods.