Which takes more pride: to believe that one is merely an animal, or to believe that one has a soul?

Which takes more pride: to believe that one's consciousness is merely the product of stupid and uncaring random processes, or to believe that one's consciousness is a supernatural agency akin to the minds of angels and gods?

Which takes more pride: to believe that one's volition may be radically constrained by deterministic processes, or to believe that one possesses supernatural free will?

Which takes more pride: to believe that one's mind will soon forever cease, or to believe that one's mind is eternal?

Which takes more pride: to believe that one's body will soon rot and decay once and for all, or to believe that one's body will be renewed for an eternal blissful afterlife in the presence of the Creator?

Which takes more pride: to believe that one's deceased loved ones are gone forever, or to believe that they are a special group whose reunion will outlive the Earth and the Sun and the galaxies?

Which takes more pride: to believe that the vast and ancient universe has no purpose, or to believe that a universe of 100 billion galaxies was created 14 billion years ago just so that humans could worship its Creator?

Which takes more pride: to believe that no higher power cares about humanity, or to believe that the Creator of 100 billion galaxies came to Earth and suffered just for the benefit of its recent human inhabitants?

Which takes more pride: to believe the universe rigidly follows natural laws, or to believe that the laws governing 100 billion galaxies are sometimes suspended because the Creator listens to human prayers?

Which takes more pride: to believe that no higher power cares about humanity, or to believe that gods and angels and demons are engaged in a supernatural struggle to influence one's eternal fate?

Which takes more pride: to believe in conclusions that can be rederived by any rational person without reference to any special experience, or to believe that one has received personal revelation or confirmation of a Truth that is the most important information any person could ever possess?

Which takes more pride: to believe that future humans will know far more than one does, or to believe that no future human will ever have a fundamentally better understanding of why the universe exists and our purpose in it?

Which yields more pride: to affirm an atheism that is ascendant and unremarkable in intellectual circles, or to courageously defend the embattled worldview of revelation-based theism?

An atheist might take pride in believing humans are the highest intelligence in existence, but many atheists believe in (and hope for contact with) superior extraterrestrial intelligence. An atheist might take pride in having an insight not yet shared by the majority of humans, but if atheists were merely prideful contrarians then they would also be New Age mystics or UFO conspiracy theorists.

For more information on atheism, see http://humanknowledge.net/Thoughts.html#Theology