Like several other people on this thread, I see that comment as absurd and illogical.
But atheists and non-believers have to understand how theism works, if only to know their “enemy”.
The genius of religion is that it has taken what SHOULD be its weak spot, namely, lack of any evidence, and turned it into a strength.
Under normal circumstances, you and I and any reasonable person would say that people who are willing to fight for, die for, or live their lives for an unseen, unproven, unlikely superbeing who wants them to do this or believe that are exhibiting behaviour that is best described as illogical or downright crazy.
But religion, which has been around a long time and has learned many tricks, has turned the act of firly believing something for which there is no evidence into a VIRTUE, or perhaps a “gift”. The Gift of Faith. From whom does this gift come? From the invisible unproven being in whom you believe without any supporting evidence. (Note the circularity of the reasoning.)
I remember some Catholic friends of mine to whom in my University days, I would point out that there is no evidence that God exists. They kept answering me: “It’s a matter of FAITH!” As if that one declaration explained and justified their clinging to unsupported and unlikely beliefs.
So finally I realized that we were engaged in a dialogue of the deaf:
Since Faith means believing without evidence, all we were doing is this: I was pointing out that they were believing without evidence, and they were answering me that “It’s a matter of believing without evidence.” as if that settled the argument.
Thus does religion insulate its believers from reason.
