[Jack]

I regret any hurt or anger I may have caused by that simple statement.

I didn't mean to suggest you had. You haven't. Most of us are accustomed to being misunderstood, misquoted and judged (and obviously found wanting) by theists. I happen to be a gay, left-handed, white, male, American, ex-military, liberal (small "l"), atheistic Aquarian. I'm quite comfortable with knowing others are uncomfortable with at least one facet of my personality. Christians aren't the only people on the planet who feel those like me are less than "fully human". That's why I debate these issues. I want to make them think about their bias and question whether or not it has any basis in reality. I endeavor to present my arguments in such a way that they will reconsider their narrow-minded beliefs.

I believe that atheists are less in terms of their belief, which is LACK of belief.

We don't lack belief in general. We lack a specific belief, the belief that gods exist. We lack that belief for good reasons based on the fact that religion (i.e. belief in a god) is a matter of faith (also called wishful thinking) and not physical, testable, verifiable evidence. We prefer to be reasonable and practical. Is that a fault? Is that sufficient reason for anyone's god to condemn us?

Actually, I believe self proclaimed atheists aren't really atheists just like self proclaimed men of God are not really men of God. Isn't it common in science to prove the positive you approach it from proving the negative or something like that. To even ponder the question of God only to conclude He doesn't exist is to search for Him' even if you haven't found Him.

So then you would also conclude that speculating on the existence of leprechauns (and concluding there's no evidence to suggest they exist) actually exposes a belief in leprechauns? I can debate and speculate about all kinds of things that I firmly and for good reason do not believe exist beyond the bounds of speculation.

Perception is reality.

Our perception is our personal reality. But our perception does not create external reality, at least to my way of thinking. This is actually a philosophical issue that's been debated for centuries. I can only express my own thoughts about it.