It seems, according to you, that someone needs absolute knowledge of everything and everyone before they can make a decision or judgement about anything.
No, I just insist that you have absolute knowledge about everything and everyone when you, in fact, make commentary about everything and everyone. That is what you are doing. Did you not say:
...no one really knows what they're talking about...
...the vast majority of people's beliefs...
...The average person does not have divine visions...
As if you have any possible method of verifying that any of these groups of BILLIONS of people are falling in line with the generalities that followed? You are the one speaking for huge swathes of humanity as if they are your friends and neighbors. Don't sit here and act like I am just pulling this out of thin air.
If they don't then they are a hypocrite and/or an **********. Also, since nobody but a god (if one even exists) has absolute knowledge I guess that makes us all hypocrites and ***********.
No, just the ones who talk about massive chunks of the population and then pretend as if they are somehow exempt from their own generalities about the human race. That's what hypocrisy means. You accuse others of something and then commit the exact same offense. In your case, it goes like this:
"Nobody on this planet has any idea what they are talking about. Except me. Everyone should question their beliefs and abandon them, just like I did."
According to your logic anyway. Since it seems difficult for you not to twist my arguements and comments into personal attacks on my character you obviously think I'm a ********** and don't like what I have to say.
I didn't twist a single thing. I quoted you directly and responded directly. I definitely don't like what you have to say. That's why I'm arguing with it. If you don't want an argument then get out of the debate forum. That's what it is for. I'm not attacking you, I'm exposing your self-important position as little more than arrogant generalizations that are based on nothing more than the microcosm of your life as opposed to any real study on the subjects you are speaking about. You don't have the chops to speak for humanity. So as long as you keep trying I'm going to keep arguing.
If you want to discuss the topic of the thread then I will be happy to discuss and debate it with you. If you want to continue mud-slinging then further interaction with you is pointless. Have a nice day.
My three original statements still stand.
You do not base your lack of belief on the number of religions, but rather on the 'lack of evidence' you perceive. This is a fact you've admitted to already. My case is rested on this particular note. This is the core topic of the thread, so If you'd just like to stop talking altogether, that's fine.
My second statement was that you cannot say that people should naturally doubt their own religion due to the fact that they do not believe in other religions. This is your method. It is not the only method out there. Everyone gets to believe exactly what they want to believe. That's how it works. You would like to pretend that everyone is supposed to believe the way you want them to. The way that you believe. The way that you discarded your religion as you have pointed out. Do you see how this sounds like blatant self-aggrandizing and why I have a problem with it? Most of this exchange we've been having has been nothing more than your attempt to justify this position you hold. Everyone else is doing it wrong. That's your opinion. Over and over you keep telling me there is no evidence, that everyone believes in made up nonsense, that no one has ever had religious experiences, that all other Christians are afraid of questions. Do you see? I cannot and will not allow commentary like that to go unchallenged. Its not true and its not fair to the people you are talking about. You don't want to have an argument about this? Then don't say it and I won't call you on it. Deal?
Finally, you (as an atheist) should not be drawing any conclusions about what god is or is not capable of. The answer should be nothing at all in both cases. You made one attempt to backslide on this and I shot that down pretty easily. If you would rather drop it, that's fine. It's not crucial to the topic anyway. You were the one that put it in the OP, though. Remember that.
So, basically you have absolutely no basis with which to make the statement, "There are too many religions." There is nothing at all to indicate that this is the case. I find the diversity of religion in this world not only refreshing but encouraging. I wish there were 7.5 billion religions. One for every human being on the planet and its almost like there is since we all get to decide what to believe whenever we feel like it.
I just thought you would want to know the data from a very well-reputed research organization that uses sound scientific survey methodology. It's preferable to grounding one's opinion solely in personal anecdotes and I know I love to have data like this to look at. If you want to learn about their methodology, they explain it all in great detail on their website. If you're curious, go and take a look at some of their stuff. You can find them here (link) and they have an entire section just on their religious surveys here (link) Their specific 2009 study on shifts in religious affiliations you can find here (link) and there is an entire PDF just on their methodology. It's relatively rare for science research like this to be easily accessible to the public, and it's one of the reasons I love this organization. 
