It seems to me that atheists may have "crushed" Christianity in the west particularly in certain countries like France. Why did christianity lose the battle, and is the win irreversible? What are the mechanisms that lead to one side winning over the other? Are there third parties involved in helping one side win against the other, and what are their motivations?
I don't think we have any particular battle being waged, what we have is a lack of effort. Takes effort to believe in something and current culture is growing an increasing number of people who put out NO effort. It wouldn't surprise me if the number of people on food stamps (47%) correlates (inverse) with previous number in the past re the amount of people who are believers in God or religion . We have smart people not just as many, and we have belieivers, not just as many. The common ground, imo, no one is putting out any effort. Too lazy , why bother, what for, nothing in it for me. The whole point is probbly not that the atheists have done any thing or the catholics haven't done enough, people just don't give a shit to do anything.
What you are saying then is that: 1. Poverty makes man believe, and 2. There is no reward in being religious that would outweigh time for religious effort. It seems to me that the number of sins have risen over time, which may suggest that religion has been on the decline in the west. In France only 34% believe in God, and the 34% includes christians, muslims and jews. I find it a pretty low number, as it would mean no more than 20% are christians?
Atheism is not a conscious act of turning away from all gods. It is simply the final destination for those who think. You will be pleased to discover that the sky does not fall down on your head. If you still want to pray, you can; the success rate of your prayers is unlikely to change. (Guy P. Harrison)
Obviously you do not know the definition of Atheism. Atheism is a firm statement. It means there is no God. Agnostic means one doesnt know if there is a God or not, but Atheism is a firm statement. There is no God and science will never ever prove in a million years that there is a God. (Pretty bold statement if you ask me) Atheists do not believe in anything that they cant see or cant test. So for instance, if you told an atheist 2000 years ago the world is made up of subatomic particles (like in Hebrews 11:3) that cant be seen and there was no technology at the time to test it, to them, subatomic particles didnt exist and never would exist.
Doesn't it seem odd that the "evidence for the existence of god" is completely hidden from the greatest human minds who spend their professional lives exploring how the universe functions, yet it is perfectly clear to uneducated simpletons who have access to internet-linked terminals? i wonder if it bothers the religious that atheists have brilliant physicists, biologists, mathematicians arguing for the atheist side, while they have, really, no one of credible intelligence.
That's quite an assumption about athiests and i doubt it applies to all of them or even a majority of them. But implicit in your statement is the converse, that believers in God believe in things they can't see or can't test, which implies that believers can't see God. Do you beleive that? Do you think Moses heard the voice of God on Mt Sinai or hallucinated?
The question of whether or not god exists cannot be answered. I'm surprised that religious people spend so much time and effort declaring with certainty that god exists. I'm equally surprised that atheists spend so much time and effort declaring with absolute certainty that god does not exist. Both sides in this ridiculous debate appear mentally ill to me. The question cannot be answered and therefore deserves no time or effort.