Well, I think atheists are the sanest people around. If people thought long and hard they'd realiize the absolute truth about religion and the belief in a Creator/ diety. That is, there is no discernible difference between those that believe in a god and those that manifest any sort of mental disease.

I'm quite serious about this. I wish you'd call the Atheistic Rights and Responsibilities The Atheist Bible. It's much too appropriate.

BTW: I saw an article that says 25% of Americans believe that Jesus will return in 2007. And what exactly does that prove> 90% of Americans beleive in the tooth fairy or whatever.

Although I appreciate the compliment, I think there are plenty of sane theists. These people are, at worst, wrong, and being wrong doesn't make you insane (at least not necessarily ).

I used to believe that everyone would be an atheist if they just thought enough about their beliefs. Over the years I've come to realize that there are many people who will never rid themselves of an inner conviction that a deity exists, no matter what evidence they are presented with. This is like a mother whose child disappeared a decade ago but still feels in her heart that he will return to her one day. The feeling has nothing to do with logic, so logic may not be able to touch it.

I'd be interested to see that article about a quarter of Americans thinking Jesus will return this year. The number seems incredibly high. And in any case you're right -- it proves nothing in terms of what is real and what is not (unless they turn out to be right, in which case I may have to take a slightly different direction with this site ).