Here is a simple example of the difference between theism and atheism. One looks at the world through the lens of a 4000 year old "belief," and the other through the modern lens of scientific understanding. To understand the difference between how the two lens shape and color what we see as "true," we have to understand the difference between Viagra and the fertility god Priapus, protector of fruit plants and male genitalia. The former does through science what the latter does through miracles.
As any veteran of the battles with terrorism knows, one way to win those battles is by first winning allies to the cause. To do that, US intelligence officers in Afghanistan frequently visited rural territories to gain the assistance of tribal chiefs against the Taliban.
These interactions are challenging because the leaders are often unwilling to help, owing to a dislike of Westerners, a fear of Taliban retribution, or both.
On one such visit, a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operative noted a patriarch’s exhaustion from the duties of heading his tribe and his immediate family, which included four younger wives. On the following visit, the CIA man came prepared with a fully optimized gift: four Viagra tablets, one per wife.
The “potency” of this meaningful, unexpected, customized favor became manifest during the CIA agent’s next trip, when the beaming leader responded with a wealth of information about Taliban movements and supply routes.
To the Westerner, this looks like a story of science, which lead to Viagra and an awareness of what a man who has four wives must worry about, but to a "believer," this looks like an enlightened or angelic being or even a god, that can read their mind to know they think a lot about sex, and gives "miracles" in the form of little blue pills - i.e., "magic beans." And 4000 years ago, the "god" that had the ability to know such things, and dispense such "magic beans," would have been Priapos.
Priapus (or Priapos) from Greek mythology is the Greek god of fertility that is said to protect livestock, vegetables, fruit plants, and the male genitalia. The Roman god Priapus was worshiped during Hellenistic times, the period after classical Greece and the emergence of the Roman Empire.
Hence, understanding how the difference between a theist and an atheist is really about understanding the difference between those who believe in a "god" who is like the Wizard of Oz and those who know there's more likely a man or men behind the curtain, working for a pharmaceutical company, even if those who claim the latter have no more evidence to support their "conspiracy theory" claim about "big pharma" than the former has about their brand of the word "God."
One may express terms of "peace and love," while Fr Emmett Carter claimed that "God's Punishment is Just, Restorative, and Medicinal." (https://catholicexchange.com/gods-punishment-is-just-restorative-and-medicinal/), and Ralph Reed, the Christian Coalition Exec. Director, exclaimed in a moment of spiritual ecstasy in which he failed to muzzle his true lust for being an instrument of God's punishment: "I want to be invisible. I do guerrilla warfare. I paint my face and travel at night. You don't know it's over until you're in a body bag. You don't know until election night."
How ironic that the extremely Catholic Hutu's where saying the very same kind of things in their Churches each morning before spending the day doling out God's "just, restorative, and medicinal" punishment on Tutsis in 1994 Rwanda.
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