ebrown_p, your comments in this thread follow many of my thoughts of Christianity. I like the views and outlooks presented by Christianity in the bible. On the other hand, I don't like the stifling standards and practices of modern Christianity.
Momma Angel, I can honestly see where you're coming from. I really can; I just can't agree with many of the things that you say in this forum. And so, I try to stay out of the conversation, but this one I will respond to.
First of all, you want to know why people hang out in the S&R forum if they are non-believers. They do it because, they are believers, whatever you say. They believe that there is no god, or that they don't know, or they believe in science and reason over religion. They are believers just as much as you are. Now that that's out of the way, I'll tell you the very obvious reason that supposed 'nonbelievers' hang out in this forum: They hang out in this forum
because they want to, like you, defend their beliefs and/or they are, of course, genuinely interested in the topics.
Second, from your first post I'm guessing you want to know, generally, why some people do not believe in the existence of God. I think a better question, and one that would illustrate why some people don't believe God's existence would be:
Why do you believe? Why do you believe in God? What compels you to believe in God? What exactly causes someone to become a believer? How did you, other than being told as a child, discover that God truly existed? How exactly did you know? etc. etc. You may answer these questions if you wish, but that's not really the point.
No offense intended. Thanks for listening.