I'm probably going to regret this, but I'd like to have a nice, calm, intellectually stimulating debate with /r/atheism about God. I'm bored at work and have about 5-6 hours to kill and I'm really interested in seeing what comes of this.

A Little About Me:

I was raised Catholic, initially intended to become a priest, and then had a break with the Church around age 15-16 (and may or may not have been excommunicated, still not technically sure) for refusing Confirmation on the grounds that I couldn't in good conscience make a solemn oath to God (or god if you prefer, I'm not picky) that I believed everything in the Catholic canon. Some specific things I took issue with included the implicit condemnation of nonbelievers to Hell, black-and-white stance on morality (killing is invariably wrong, sex before marriage means you go to hell, lying is never ok), the stance that Vatican-verified miracles should be believed in, that the Bible is a literal historical document (with little room for interpretation in light of scientific evidence, a la the Earth only being thousands of years old), that one couldn't disagree with the Gospels and be a good Christian (I take issue with the majority of Paul's writings), that as humans we are incapable of doing pretty much anything except sinning, and that in light of that fact we should not try to improve ourselves and choose to try not to sin but rather accept god and let him take care of that bit.

After I broke with the church, I kind of meandered around for a while spiritually, eventually adopting a Deist's point of view with some influence from A Course In Miracles (although I haven't read all the way through the text, it makes some good points in my opinion). I got ordained online this past Valentines Day and have since presided over a funeral, which was a very strange, surreal experience.

Right now, I'm a double major in history and philosophy (with a minor in theater, just because :P) attending the University of Alabama as a Junior. I have tons of atheist friends, as well as tons of Presbyterian friends, Baptist friends, Catholic friends, Agnostic friends, Buddhist friends, and even some Wiccan/New Agey friends, and I love them all dearly. I don't think any of them are going to hell for their choice of team to root for in the celestial ballgame, because at their core, most religions seem to be about seeking to improve onesself while helping everyone else have an easier time of doing the same.

In any event, let's kick this thing off. I believe there is a god, you all don't. AMA and let's get this ball rolling!

Best of luck and best wishes,

Daveaham_Lincoln

EDIT 1437 MST: This is terribly entertaining, I'm enjoying it thoroughly! What I'm doing for responses is going in order recieved on my messages page, then refreshing and doing it again, so things might turn out a bit odd/seem like I'm ignoring you but I'm not. I'll do my best to reply thoughtfully to everyone who cares to comment. I'm off to lunch now, but I'll be back in an hour or so.