What I don't understand..

no, they are no better, nor worse, no belief is the superior one, atheism included.
I agree with you and have had atheists exclaim with a derisive sneer that they KNOW there is not a god. It is no better than the believers who KNOW I will fry in hell for saying Jesus married and had kids, and I won't let him take my sins either.
Hypocrisy is an equal opportunity sin.

 

It might help to understand the origin and nature of belief. belief is an idea that has a more lively feel to it, as distinguished from ideas of the imagination. Belief, properly speaking, is not an object of reason, which is only based on the comparrison of ideas, and cannot determine matters of fact. It (belief) needs something more to give it that extra liveliness. a present perception is one such something. Memory can sometimes also be so but it is usually weaker. Sometimes in the cases of the mentally disturbed, the imagination can be so strong as approach the liveliness of belief but normally it is easy to tell the difference. So the question is- why do people say they "believe" when no present perception or memory exists to enliven that idea? Without taking the matter too deep, there might be several explanations as to why. Religions have made it their business to furnish "believers" with all manner of things to substantiate their claims. Catholics excel in this. Spirituality is considered a noble pursuit and one who ponders these sublime questions is recognized by all as "holy". The more outlandish preists draw to them the more ferverant disciples. The mind is carried away with all this and approaches the liveliness which resembles belief. And as is normal in the mind, that which resembles is often taken for as identical. Not to mention the cases of those who want to "believe". Its' the old bait and switch- it is perfectly normal that we have such concerns as morality, justice, utility to ouselves and society and the natural world. But then the priests use this concern and put in their idea of "god" into the equation and demand that we worship it. They then whip us up into a frenzy and milk it for all that it is worth, for good or for evil. The good might be excused except for the delusion that goes along with it. The evil has been responsible for much of the worst that humans have created.

 

Some questions have no clearly definable answer. In those cases, one can either refuse to choose a favorite option, or state as your belief the answer that sounds best to you.
My beliefs, ironically enough, are the result of years of reasoned contemplation. They are based partly on my study and research, and my conclusions regarding what I have read.