Comment 22 by Nordic11 :

Ok. I'll take a risk a make a comment even though no one seems to like the content of this article.

Just a couple of things:

The only intellectual crisis atheism is facing is the complete lack of anyone, other than atheists, to have an intellectual conversation with.

Even though I am a Christian, I can understand the appeal of atheism. It explains this broken world without any apparent contradiction, and it appeals to my raw rational side. Atheism is an easy belief system to adhere to. Even so, I disagree with my atheist friends and acquaintances, but I try to never mock or belittle them (although I'm sure I've failed at this at times). I respect their thinking and find it logical in many ways. In my experience, I have not experienced the same respect in return. Richard Dawkins and members on this site habitually mock and ridicule my Christianity in general and my personal faith making a cordial discussion difficult (although there have been several members who have been more than kind). Extreme, fanatical "Christians" are always chosen for article topics and not the reasonable people I know who are out there doing a lot of good for this world. There are many good reasons that I have chosen Christianity over atheism, but my reasoning is immediately dismissed as infantile, morally corrupt, psychologically deficient and worse. It is difficult to carry on an intellectual conversation in the face of such rancor.

Please stop repeating the lie that being cordial and bieng reasonable are the same thing. They are not. Politeness has nothing to do with reason. You can be un-reasoned and polite. You can be reasoned and rude.

I really hate this mis-use of the word "reasonable" that is so common in the English langauge. Using reason and bieng polite are NOT synonymous.

Sometimes being rude to people who are refusing to use reason is justified. Being rude does not make someone unreasonable. Refusing to use reason does. Everyone who says "you have to have faith" is being unreasonable, quite literally, no matter how politely they say it.