Skrum; you should read Ayn Rand; it would clear up your problem of dangling precepts.

Sam; atheism doesn't require faith that god doesn't exist. No more then science requires faith that little invisible pink elephants are the not the cause of gravity.

How do you define atheism than deadcode? Because the dictionary definition is a belief that god doesn't exist, without proof that belief is tantamount to the faith theists have that god does exist.

dead,

I was a Randite when I developed the code. I had a well-thumbed copy of Atlas Shrugged, I had read everything else she had ever written, went to some presentations delivered by Ayn Rand, and attended teaching sessions sponsored by the Nathaniel Branden Institute.

What is a dangling precept?

There are traditionally two types of atheists.

Those that believe there is no rational proof of the existence of God(s.)

Those that belief there is rational proof that God(s) do not exist.

Two very different things, occasionally referred to as positive/negative athiesm.

Religious philosophy and apologetics are actually something I'm quite versed in, but I cringe to have that discussion here.

As a theist, I also cringe to see skrum justifying the validity of the bible by using...the bible. That's just a terrible argument.

Sam I do not believe you can prove a negative. For example; how do you prove that we are not in the Matrix? It is simply an impossible task.

I only believe it is possible to prove a positive. If someone says, "we are all in the matrix, reality isn't real!", I would reply, "prove it". If he is unable to; I don't declare that I believe that he is wrong; I simply do not consider it at all.

I do not have any thoughts of god at all. I nether believe that it exists or argue that it doesn't. It simply isn't part of my thinking at all. Are invisible pink elephants part of yours? Probably not. Well I don't think we need a word to describe that way of thinking. This is how I describe my view of god.

Skrum; I doubt Rand would approve of you calling yourself a Randite; because she hated the idea of the theory being named after her.

I looked up precept and found that maybe I misunderstood the definition. I was thinking of the child of an axiom; but cannot think of the word.

Also; Skrum; how is it that you know of Ayn Rand; but have a problem grounding morality in anything but religion?

Ayn Rand didn't root things in "what is right / wrong"; it was always rooted in self interest. I tend to agree with most of what she said on this topic; although it is difficult for most to understand. Most people cannot get passed the misguided belief that selfishness is the cause of immoral practices. Objectivism had such a hard time getting people to understand that dichotomy that they started calling it rational self-interest; which I also prefer; for the same practical reason.

Having no thoughts on God in the positive or negative would make you an agnostic would it not?