I first saw this on Jewsish Atheists Blog (always worth a visit) so thought that I would replicate it here. Checkout Foilwoman too for her take on things....

Why do you not believe in God?

The complete and utter lack of evidence to support that belief.

Where do your morals come from?

Many places. An individuals moral beliefs originate in their culture, upbringing, education and peer relationships, life experience and probably a sprinkling of genetic inheritance. This is why different people have different ideas about morality and have different moral beliefs. This is also why different cultures have different moralities and why moral ideas change over time. Morals are human constructs developed over thousands of years in particular cultures.

What is the meaning of life?

A better question would be ‘Is there a Meaning to Life?’ However, there is no single Meaning to anyone’s life. Meaning is created either by what we do, what we seek or is borrowed from the various religions or ideologies humans have created over the millennia.

Is atheism a religion?

Not by any reasonable definition of religion. Religions are by necessity a product of supernatural thinking. Atheism explicitly rejects the supernatural.

If you don’t pray, what do you do during troubling times?

I try to reason my way out of things as well as talking to friends and family about it. I really can’t see the point of praying for help. Even if God did exist what would be the point? If my life and everything that happens in it is part of God’s Will then the bad times are all part of His plan too. Why would He change His plan just because I ask Him to?

Should atheists be trying to convince others to stop believing in God?

Only if they want to. There is no good reason why they should go ‘out of their way’ to do so but they should not be afraid to debate the question of Gods existence in a robust manner.

Weren’t some of the worst atrocities in the 20th century committed by atheists?

Only technically. The atrocities committed by the Nazi’s, the Soviet Communists and the Communist Chinese where all about power – not religion or anti-religion. They each in their own way saw organised religion as a danger to their power base so made efforts to remove it, as they did to other powerful or potentially powerful groups. They may have not believed in God but I would argue that this was not their motivation for the millions of people they killed. Any ideology that views those who do not adhere to it as substantially less than human and has the power to do something about it will ineviatably lead to deaths on this scale.

How could billions of people be wrong when it comes to belief in God?

Easily. Billions of people over time have been wrong about many of their beliefs. Also you need to ask yourself which God are they talking about? Presumably the many millions who are Christians passionately believe that the Muslims are wrong? Also the many millions of Hindus believe that the Buddhists are wrong? You could say that all of these groups believe in ‘something’ but that something is very different from faith to faith. Not all of them can be right but they can all be wrong.

Why does the universe exist?

The Universe does not exist for a reason – any reason. Clearly the Universe *does* exist but it is a natural object and therefore does not have any purpose or goal. It just IS.

How did life originate?

No one knows yet. But I suspect that life first emerged in water about 400 million years after the Earth was formed. Certain chemicals naturally bond with each other and, after enough time when the right conditions existed passed over the ‘gap’ between lifeless and life. From then on Natural Selection took over. 4 billion years later… here we are! The details are still debatable but I certainly see no need to add anything like God into the mix. Life emerged here naturally and has undoubtedly done the same throughout the Galaxy and the rest of the Universe too.

Is all religion harmful?

On balance I would have to say yes. Clearly though it is not all bad. A lot of good work has been done in the name of religion to say nothing of the great art, architecture and music produced in its name. However, religion has been (and still is) clearly responsible for much human suffering both directly and indirectly. It has been resonsible for holding back scientific endeavour and still clouds many peoples minds with ideas that in another time and place will be seen as pure nonsense.

What’s so bad about religious moderates?

Not much. I don’t subscribe to the idea that moderates protect extremists by their very existence. Applied universally this would mean that social-democrats give hardline communists some kind of justification just by their mere existence. This is clearly nonsensical. But what moderates should be doing is speaking out against their more extreme bretherin. Any kind of extremism (and not just of the religious type) gives all adherents a bad name. If moderates ‘called them’ on their views and actions more it would isolate them and maybe make extreme views somewhat less acceptable.

Is there anything redeeming about religion?

Many things – but nothing that can’t be replaced by non-religious non-supernatural beliefs.

What if you’re wrong about God (and He does exist)?

Well, if He’s the wrathful jealous God of the Old Testament then I’m in trouble [grin]. But if He’s the loving forgiving God of the New Testament I’m pretty sure that He would forgive me!

Shouldn’t all religious beliefs be respected?

Clearly not. The three big World Religions are based on writtings sometimes thousands of years old. Things have moved on in many ways since then. So I think it somewhat inappropriate to stone people for breaking ancient laws or instituting other barbaric means of jurisprudence. Once people bring ancient beliefs into the modern public arena they should expect the same level of respect as any other belief system be that political or philosophic. Religious belief should not be a no-go area for argument just because its religious.

Are atheists smarter than theists?

Belief in God (or otherwise) is not a matter of intelligence. Smart people believe in God and stupid people are atheists – but equally intelligence people are atheists and dumb people believe in God. There does seem to be some correlation between educational standards and belief (basically the higher the education the less belief) but this is not always true. Belief is more complicated than that.

How do you deal with the historical Jesus if you don’t believe in his divinity?

If Jesus did exist (which is debatable) there is no reason why I, as an atheist, would have to ‘deal’ with him. He may have been an ancient Jewish teacher and ‘wise’ man. That has little relevance to me. Of course I do not believe he was divine. If he could be shown to have existed my very first thought would be “So what”.

Would the world be better off without any religion?

Yes. The various functions of religion can be undertaken by other means. There is enough philosophy in the world already to address peoples so-called ‘spiritual’ needs without recourse to any supernatural agency. Without the many illusions (and delusions) associated with religion people would be free to pursue activities to improve their lives here and now rather than to wait for a ‘better life’ after they die. If people accepted their own mortality maybe they would be less willing to kill themselves and others in the name of frankly silly beliefs. At least one would hope so.

What happens when we die?

Presumably this means ‘after’ we die? That’s it. Lights Out, Goodnight, Game Over. No Heaven (or afterlife of any kind). No reincarnation. No Hell. Nothing.