We didn't talk a lot after the first 2 weeks of my 3-month stay at the house, but one of our most notable, heated conversations, during which I'm pretty sure he decided that he didn't fancy talking to me much anymore, was when I told him exactly how I felt about religion, and faith.
Christians will often say that they "know" that God exists. .. over the years, when they've said something to this end to me, like when my roommate did that day, I've learned to retort:
To know something is a very different thing than to be certain of that thing. Nobody really knows that there is a God, but a lot of people are certain. The difference: knowing is universal. A logical and observable process must be able to be critically observed by objective parties. Certainty, however, is a subjective experience. It's an emotion - emotions are merely electrical signals and the body's release of chemicals.
Bill Maher puts it best: "Faith is the willful suspension of logic and critical thinking."
So, our roommate-relationship was pretty well ruined. It probably didn't help that I piped in about hearing voices in one's head is a sign of mental illness, but I don't regret saying it. Someone has to talk some sense into people.
He did have his revenge, though. During our semi-regular and brief falsetto-polite conversations for the next few weeks, he'd often insert references to me having "faith" in my life, of course in place of where I'd actually have applied logic. - a backhanded compliment.
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