But you'll get my $.02 anyway.

I can't say for certain there is no god. The whole idea is certainly not illogical, or impossible, and a lot of undeniably smart people believe it. But then again, there is no compelling reason to believe there must be a god. Maybe there is some personality (soul, consciousness, being, intelligence) that created the universe, or manages it, or both, somehow. I concede it can't be ruled out. But the point is there is no reason to believe such a thing. We simply have no evidence. Of course, there are probably many things that do exist for which we have no evidence, but until I am shown that evidence, I am an atheist. After all, even if there is a god, why should I accept his existence for no good reason.

What I can say, without any equivocation or qualification, if that IF there is a god, I have absolutely no knowledge of his properties, or his abilities, or his plans (for me or for the rest of the universe) or of his powers or limitations. In other words, even if god exists, I know nothing about him. In fact, I have no way of knowing anything about him. No one does. I'm sorry, but ancient texts and faith just don't cut it. Thousands of different gods are worshipped on earth today. Throughout history, millions of gods have been worshipped. And the one thing all those religions have in common is that every last one of them is absolutely convinced all the others are dead wrong. That alone should tell you something.

So that settles it for me. I am an atheist. I could take the coward's way out and call myself an agnostic, but that would be a copout.

But there is a mystery about this universe. Its why I am fascinated by nature, philosophy and science. I don't know what that mystery is, or if I, (or anyone else), will ever get to the bottom of it, I just don't know. And if that mystery has any similarity to the conventional ideas of what god is like, I'm pretty sure He, She, Them or It does not really care whether or not I eat meat on Fridays, or who I'm fucking.