You have done a very good job of providing the state of atheism. Hat's off.
You say "zero evidence" but this isn't true is it? We have the entire Bible as evidence. So you have to reject that, if you will. But to say it = zero isn't the truth, if you can be honest.
You admit to a conscience being your guide. That is evidence of God.
I disagree that knowing God leads one to do nothing about one's problems. A relationship with Christ is the most life-changing experience many will ever encounter. As followers we do not kick back and let life happen. We work out the Lords will in our lives. Not doing this is akin to unbelief. I'll admit that many "Christians" stay in this state, but it isn't what Christ would have us do.
I disagree again on your "religion explains everything" statement. As Christians we don't know all things. We trust that the Lord does, and is working things out according to his plan. Those who understand this are not blind-sided.
Believing in the spiritual side is based on faith, not science. On that I agree with you. But because science can't prove it does not mean it isn't the truth. It explains much if you let yourself go there. There is no need to reject it based on lack of scientific proofs. If the paradigm does not contradict itself, and tends to explain the world we live in, then this is scientific reason to allow it.
Men have been trying to "get it right" without God for all of recorded history. Yet the world / humans are no better than they ever were. We have iPhones now, but that isn't really an indicator of having it right. Having it right is a conscience thing, as you indicate. It has nothing to do with scientific advancement and understanding of our physical world. It has to do with understanding how and why we are made. Our soul if you will.
Science can never approach this subject.
The bible is not "evidence." It is merely a series of claims. If I claim the sky is green, that is not evidence. It is a claim.
If I say, for example, "bacteria are real," that is just a claim. The evidence would be microscopic observation and images, analysis on infected tissues, and indirect evidence on things that influence bacteria like antibiotics.
The bible does nothing but make a series of claims.
And what makes your religion correct? There are hundreds of other religions claiming they're correct in exactly the same way Christianity does: they make a circular, illogical argument that simply claiming that their religion is the ultimate truth, that makes it so. What makes your religion any different? Your claims are as baseless as anybody else's.
How is my conscience evidence of god? Do you merely assume that if you personally don't know where something comes from, clearly god did it? There was a time when people used to think that about the method by which the sun rose. Didn't turn out to be true, now did it?
As an aside, we actually know how empathy and justice works, where they are located in the brain, and all social mammals display them. They're necessary for social mammals to work together, not just humans. There is no need for "god" to have done any of it.
This is what I mean about the ignorance and inaction religion causes by claiming to know everything. You didn't happen to be aware of where conscience comes from, so you just assumed god did it because it makes you more comfortable, and everything you don't know is clearly done by god. It's a silly assumption to begin with, but as it just so happens, there is actually real knowledge out there that contradicts you.
And what has religion done? Religion has stopped you from finding that knowledge, because you think you already know the answer. This is what I mean. Here is a perfect example of the way religion disables people.
The real world is fascinating, dude. And you're missing out on it, because learning things would force you to admit that life is strange and complex and you don't have all the answers.
But even if we knew none of that, simply claiming "goddidit" would not make you right. That is just an empty claim.
It sure does make people think they know everything, because they decide that, at the very least, they're best buddies with the dude who does know everything, and if they make the dude happy, it'll be ok. They just have to hug the dude who knows everything, and he'll make it all work out. In its most vile form, this can even go so far as to make life expendable -- all that matters is what comes after.
It is not simply an issue of science being unable to prove faith-based claims. It is not even an issue of faith-based claim coming into direct conflict with proven science, although many do, including Christianity. It is not
even an issue of many faith-based claims conflicting each other, even within the same religion -- again, although many do, including Christianity. Here is the biggest issue. Pay attention.
There is no suggestion whatsoever, in any corner of reality on the face of the earth, that any of these claims are real. None. Zip. Nada.
Even if we had no scientific knowledge whatsoever, even if all your religious texts were perfectly in agreement with each other, that alone would be a good enough reason to reject religious claims out of hand. There is no reason why anyone should believe things on an empty claim.
If I tell you crickets are real, I don't need to conduct a scientific study to prove it to you. I just need to show you a cricket.
There are all these claims about all these things that supposedly happened here on Earth, or affect the outcome of things here on Earth, and yet there has never been even the tiniest shred of suggestion that any of them ever existed in reality.
And that's saying nothing of all the conflicting claims within the bible itself, or all the places where the bible makes what we now know are completely ridiculous claims about the way the world works, or the fact that even a basic logical math equation proves your god to be either malevolent or logically impossible, or the circularity of the bible claiming that it is correct because the bible says it's correct.
Forget all of that.
It is the simple fact that reality does not support the concept of your faith. Period.
And actually, the modern age is the best that has ever been. We have less violence, longer, happier lives, more charity, less oppression, and less starving than ever before. That is true worldwide overall. Even the places that are bad are not as bad as bad used to be. The countries with the shortest life expectancies still have longer ones than what we had only 200 years ago.
And guess what else we have?
An increasingly non-religious population -- especially in the very best places on Earth.
What a shame religion gives you such a misanthropic view of the world.
