Each of us has what we consider to be a well thought out opinion concerning our particular beliefs. And, that is a good thing, right? It would take a terrific amount of proof for any of us to alter our opinion. And, that is a good thing, is it not?
Why would we want to be any other sort of person, if not a person who stands by his or her own well thought out opinion? With time those opinions become conviction, become our truth and our reality.
It would be surreal to suddenly take on another person’s conviction, truth or reality.
These convictions are not in the order of opinions expressed in likes or dislikes, which may change like fads or attraction to a style of music or even opinions about people or cities or TV shows. To liken these convictions to those sorts of opinions is insulting to the owner of such opinions that have formed convictions, truths and realities.
In my reality there are no deities. That is not only my opinion, but is my conviction and my truth. If you say to me that my conviction that there are no deities is JUST my opinion, then you are insulting me.
And yet, each of us that wants our convictions to be honored as an important part of what makes us individuals needs, as a person of conscience, to allow others that same privilege. It is sort of similar to the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights. It is just as difficult to do as supporting speech that is disagreeable, because one wants his or her speech to be supported in turn.
In discussions with those who believe, I reason that non-believers must enter and exit with this in mind; that as we each have opinions (and the other thing) so do we each have convictions, which make up a large part of our identity. If believers do not do the same, we non-believers should not feel we must give tit-for-tat, for when we do, the discussion stops being productive and we lose the higher point on the platform.
Well, that’s my opinion, anyway.
Conservative Skeptic 
I think the moment we go down the “my truth” road, we get ourselves into trouble. If something is true, it is true. It can’t just be true for me unless we want to deny that external reality exists. Our opinions have little to do with truth, which is why we call them opinions instead of facts.
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I understand what you mean. But, because I have no experience with deities, that is my truth, which is also a fact of my life. For believers, who have some sort of experience with deities for what ever reason, that is their truth, which is also a fact of their lives.
We may argue that such experiences can be manufactured in a laboratory, but doesn’t that experience then become a fact of that person’ s life? It happened, something happened and such “happenings” are facts, are they not?
Why a “God” experience becomes a fact for some and not for others is a different matter, or is it perhaps in the interpretation? I have had “fairy experiences” or so I have surmised, but I don’t believe in fairies. But what was it? It happened in my brain, unbidden, yet there it was like prophecy. It was more than the left sock or other item that goes missing when fairies are pissed, which is fun to play at.
Where do humans draw the line? Who decides what is a fact of the brain and what is a delusion? Not talking religion or scripture here, but experiences that people either laugh off and ignore or take so seriously that their lives are altered forever.
In an otherwise healthy brain and body, what moves some to become devout believers in deities, while others consider the experience an aberration or the onset of temporary mania or permanent dementia?
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