The Goodness Of god.

somewhere in the world, a man has abducted a little girl
soon he will rape, torture, and kill her
if an atrocity of this kind is not occuring at precisely this moment,
it will happen in a few hours, or days at most.
such is the confidence we can draw from the statistical laws
that govern the lives of six billion human beings.
the same statistics also suggest that this girl's parents believe - as you believe
that an all-powerful and all-loving God is watching over their family
are they right to believe this?
is it good to believe this?

no, not really.

the entirety of atheism is contained in this response.
atheism is not a philosophy; it is not even a view of the world.
it is simply an admission of the obvious.
in fact, "atheism" is a term that should not even exist
no one ever needs to identify themself as a "non-astrologer" or a "non-alchemist"
we do not have words for people who doubt that Elvis is still alive
or that aliens have traversed the galaxy only to molest ranchers and their cattle.
atheism is nothing more than the noises reasonable people make in the presence of unjustified religious beliefs.
an atheist is simply a person who believes that the 87% claiming to
"never doubt the existence of God"
should be obliged to present evidence for his existence.
an atheist is a person who believes that the murder of a single innocent little girl - even once in a million years - casts doubt upon the idea of a benevolent God.