Oh I would probably still be a fundamentalist if the abstraction hadn't leaked so badly. People tend to be what they were born into and tend to remain that way unless something about it really doesn't work well.

On the other hand now that I'm a couple of decades outside that particular reality distortion field I could never go back, either.

At some point, normally very young, we form "base beliefs". And, our world view today is a product of countless decisions made from that base. Three political philosophers, Hobbs, Locke, and Burke (not sure here), were all important in this field. They were quite different in their conclusions about the role of the government. And, to my astonishment, I found that they had all proceeded logically. They simply had different base beliefs. One was religious. One was agnostic, and one was an atheist. So, our view of the world is not governed by intelligent. I don't think we atheists are one bit more intelligent than religious people. What I am unclear about is when, and how, we form these base beliefs. I've been thinking about this, i e, why people believe what they believe, since I was eleven.

I’ve not seen Atheists brag of a higher intelligence, or better education ..though they’ll occasionally acknowledge it. As I once read the monthly editorials of Madalyn Murray O’Hair, she welcomed us as “The intellectual elite.” A grandiose proclamation? After reading her piece, I agreed, and continue to.

What I’ve witnessed among Atheists is the desire to teach, or elevate the less aware or educated, not lord over them.. There’s no prestige or economic benefit being an atheist, if anything - the opposite.

Atheists appear to make bold choices, and, they’re honest. I think we’ve all experienced situations where the decision we made at ‘that moment’ was a reflection of who we are. And yes, we’ve many to thank for such morals … perhaps as well those who provided us a template of ‘what not to be.’ Our constant individual choices, and credit when/ where credit’s due