PebbleBoy
So uh do you guys think god is real? I mean wheres the proof? People say they see angels and stuff but seriously wheres the proof? But then again where is the proof showing that god DOESNT exist? People get so obssesed and pray and pray and some stuff never happens. Also some people go insane over people believing in god and decide to kill some people. Neither of those should be happening. I, myself, am a non-believer but if you can convince me hes real then Idk. Debate and what not I wanna hear what you got to say.
I think that, to a true religious believer (whatever that religion may be), proof is not a requirement of their faith - part of faith is taking what is inherently unprovable and believing it anyway. I see that as a positive thing. I wish that I could be so open-minded - perhaps religion would be comforting in some way to me, something which might provide a greater sense of purpose. However, I am an Atheist, because I am not the type of person who can believe something without reasonable proof (the definition of "reasonable proof" being, of course, my own personal definition). I feel that my purpose in being is to live a good, productive life by my own standards - religious people feel that their purpose in being is to live a good, productive life by their chosen deity's standards, and I respect that.
In the end, I don't think it matters whether you have religious belief in a higher deity/power or not - I view religion as a deeply personal belief that is best kept private, and therefore should be of no consequence to anyone other than the individual. Your example of religious extremists who carry out crimes in the name of their religion is not a representative example of religious people, but I think that we can all agree that you can't judge an entire religion based on its outlying fanatics.
There should be no convincing when it comes to religion, in my opinion - since it is such a personal subject, you either believe or you don't.