Hi Edward!

Yes, people are free to believe as they will, even in god. (When you design your ideal species, would you have it any other way? Or would you put limits on their freedoms?)

The reasons you give for not believing are, I think, precisely why so many do believe. It is a scary world. There are many questions. And god provides a reason for pretty much everything. "God knows!"

God provides meaning. "God's will!"

As I pointed out in a recent comment somewhere, god has been around as a 'reason' for millennia. Science has only had a couple hundred years or so. There's some catching up to do.

Ultimately, people hold onto a belief system because it works (for them). Troubleshooter's motto, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

So, if you want to change a belief system, it's not the beliefs themselves you go after because they're not broken. It's the underlying reasons for them, that's what you go after.

Go after the fear from which springs the belief in god.

Take care!