Hello Vicar, "I've sort of lost my doubt!"

In conversation with an atheist acquaintance I was surprised to hear them say that they'd become an agnostic, no longer being sure that God (or gods perhaps) did not exist. Feeling just the beginnings of that ever present sin, pride, at my part in influencing them, I found myself brought back to the earth with a bump! The reason for this was their attributing this new found state to Richard Dawkins book 'The God Delusion'

"The more the book attacked the beliefs, the more I considered them and found something coherent and consistent and this has got me thinking and I'm not so sure there's not something I haven't wanted to notice before."

We'd spoken on a few occasions about the many 'nice' Christians they'd encountered and seen them merely constrained to the 'mad but nice' bin; people who lived in the world of 'I want it to be' who pinned their hopes on someone whom, having been invented to salve their needs, lived their lives of belief in that same person.

The burden of proof is whose I wonder - Is it on the part of the believer or the doubter? That's the question isn't it?

You can't see gravity and yet let go of something and the effect of gravity is immediately obvious and gravity's existence is confirmed.

You can't see God either and yet let go of Him and what is the observable effect?  Is their an empirical test? Can we remove God from the equation and see some difference or add Him to the mix and find a precipitate in the test tube of faith or a 'pop' as the dying splint of faith reignites in the substance of God?

This is going to be a interesting journey indeed - thank you Mr D :-)