God has apparently set up this universe so that there is not 100% proof in his existence. Why? Since, no matter how hard we study and how diligently we seek, we will never find proof in the existence of God. likewise, it is impossible to absolutely prove something doesn't exist, we will never be able to prove that God doesn't exist.

Due to lack of conclusive evidence, none of us, believer or atheist can be absolutely sure of our beliefs, aren't we all agnostics? An agnostic neither believes nor disbelieves in the existence of God. Since there is no conclusive proof one way or the other, it is impossible to be completely sure, therefore aren't we all agnostics? This is where faith enters the picture. Faith is belief in something for which we lack conclusive evidence. Notice that I said “conclusive” evidence. That means there is evidence, and in the case of the existence of God or even the Christian God, there is a lot of it, it's just not 100%. Belief in something for which there is little, or no evidence is blind faith. So, a believer (in my case, a Christian) is someone that, in the face of all of the evidence they have examined, have concluded that the best possible explanation for this evidence is God. An atheist has concluded there is no God. Atheist-idiot joke. This is a choice, a choice to believe or not to believe. Personally, I don't think this is a case of, I looked at all the evidence and it could go either way, so I choose X. I believe the evidence pretty firmly points in the existence of God.

Some people that call themselves atheists probably are what the golfer in my joke would call idiots, but that certainly doesn't describe all of them. There are some, e.g. Alex O'Connor, who appear to have done (and continue to do) plenty of research, and still come up on the other side. Some profess a strong desire to believe. O'Connor at least appears to be sincere. I admit that I cannot understand this. To me, the preponderance of the evidence points to the existence of God. Some have a sticking point, that of it wasn't for this one thing, the existence of evil for example, they would believe. In these cases, I understand, I usually just chalk those things up to something that I, not being God, am not wise enough to understand, but I can definitely see why some would consider that a cop out. I understand this, it's hard for me to argue against it because I feel that way sometimes too. However, in the face of the overwhelming amount of things (just) in this universe (or really just about about aspect of it) let alone beyond it, that I don't understand, one more thing shouldn't be a surprise.

I'm any event, I will posit the existence of the sincere atheist who genuinely wants to believe, has made and perhaps continues to make, an attempt at examining all the evidence and in the face of that had reached the conclusion that the best possible explanation is that there is no God. For that hypothetical person, I have nothing but sympathy for. I can only suggest Pascal's wager. However, I would encourage these folks, and anyone else really that calls themselves an atheist, to carefully examine their life and circumstances and make absolutely sure there isn't something that is causing them to deny the existence of God simply out of an unwillingness to change that thing. Because if that's the case, you are, in the face of eternity, surrendering your birthright for a single meal.