Getting back to topic...
I wouldn't say I am an atheist, myself. I was raised Catholic, but my current understanding of 'God' is such that I feel I can no longer call myself Catholic or Christian, or deist for that matter - because I disagree with certain fundamental beliefs (the trinity, the divinity of Jesus or his bodily resurrection, God as a 'being', etc).
If I openly question these fundamental beliefs without providing an alternative belief, then I might be assumed to be atheist. But I cannot say that I have no belief in 'God' - only that there is no single definition or description of 'God' provided by any religion that fits with my experience of it. In my opinion, it's the case of the elephant and the blind men - there is truth in the experience of all of them, but not one of their conclusions is correct.
The absence of evidence to support the existence of something does not prove its non-existence, in my opinion. And the one thing that science can state for certain is that the more we know or understand about the universe, the more we find still to learn or to understand.
I know many of you now are searching for a category to place me in, or questions to ask so that I can be neatly defined as agnostic theist, panentheist, jianist, etc. I've probably heard them all, and I respectfully refuse to be labelled, if it's all the same to you.
I can choose to ignore and even deny, but cannot prove or disprove a certain 'spiritual' awareness - something that for one reason or another not everyone is able or willing to tap into. I think as humans we have become increasingly adept at dismissing what doesn't fit into a logical and ordered view of the world. I can see how this might give atheists some small comfort, but it's as narrow a view of the world as a fundamentalist, in my opinion. They're missing out on a valuable aspect of the human experience.
In my opinion spirituality defies definition and scientific enquiry because it exists only in the subjective experience of humanity. Religion is simply an attempt to make that awareness seem more real (and then to try and harness its power) by squeezing it into some natural or manmade format that can be shared: words, rituals, creeds, theologies, animal worship, sacred places, music, art, symbolism, etc. All of these are poor representations of the subjective experience itself.
I guess what I'm saying is that not everyone who sounds like an atheist in these forums may be an atheist, and even if they call themselves 'atheist', it doesn't mean they're not aware of something that defies definition and scientific enquiry. I use the word 'God' because of my own Christian background, but I completely understand those who prefer to leave it undefined, unmentioned even.
Because for me, this 'spiritual' awareness is undefinable and indescribable. It can only be experienced subjectively, and any genuine understanding of it lies beyond the scope of mere words. There's the rub.
