I said the atheists on Getbig not all atheists and thus far all of my encounters with the Getbig atheists have indicated exactly what I stated.
I've been asked for proof of my experiences time and time again on this board....not within this thread, but many, many other threads.
I don't recall asking for proof of your experiences. But perhaps I did. Without reference to any specific incident I would like to add a bit more context: if you say "I had a personal revelation and as a result I believe" then I probably won't as for proof of this personal revelation, except in discussing how you interpreted that experience to decide that it was the Christian God as opposed to some other deity.
But if you (and I'm using the term generically here) use those personal experiences as an argument in a discussion, then I think that I am not only entitled, but obligated to ask you to prove those experiences.
I know you already know the most plausible, apologetic explanations...as does avxo, as does Magoo, etc....I'm fully aware that you already have both sides of the debate all sewn up before the debate is even initiated. Which begs the question: why engage at all?
I don't think I have both sides of the debate all sewn up. But I do think that if you put yourself in the shoes of someone like myself for a minute, you will understand that in debating a lot of these things, you've had to answer or explain the same thing a million times. And it can get old. Sometimes I try to preempt that by not only addressing the question, but also the two or three questions that, in my experience, are incoming. That may come off as a bit arrogant, but it's not meant as such.
As for why I engage? The short answer is that I find the topic interesting. The slightly longer answer is that I find the topic interesting and sometimes I find people with whom I genuinely enjoy debating.