Oh brother! Here we go again! Each sect of (I like the word) Christiandom has it's doctrines. To lump them all together as one, is a huge mistake. Sounds to me like maybe your speaking about the Catholic church. I usually try to stay out of these things because of the vast amount of trouble we get ourselves into by doing so.
I like disenchantedcitizen's comment a lot. And as a matter of fact, why don't you pick on another religious group for a change. The info is out there somewhere, I'm sure. I am getting really bored with these attacks on Christianity, let's laugh at the Muslims or the Hindus, for a change. I mean what's the big deal anyway? These attacks have been going on since Christ...

Oh brother! Here we go again! Each sect of (I like the word) Christiandom has it's doctrines. To lump them all together as one, is a huge mistake. Sounds to me like maybe your speaking about the Catholic church. I usually try to stay out of these things because of the vast amount of trouble we get ourselves into by doing so.
I like disenchantedcitizen's comment a lot. And as a matter of fact, why don't you pick on another religious group for a change. The info is out there somewhere, I'm sure. I am getting really bored with these attacks on Christianity, let's laugh at the Muslims or the Hindus, for a change. I mean what's the big deal anyway? These attacks have been going on since Christ stepped onto the scene, and where did it get him? Yeah. Right! So can we all move on now?
Thanks for letting me have a small say in this.

If there is one true god, then shouldn't there be one true religion? The fact that all these religions infect the earth, each claiming to be about the one true god, pretty much shows us how real it all is.

We live in a primarily Christian nation. I grew up with Christianity, I was a Christian, I researched it. Trying to claim Christian bashing is like a guy complaining too much about drowning in the ocean. There are other ways to die, but water is kinda what's on his mind.

But its not like any other religion has any better story. They are all nothing more than people making up stories to make themselves feel better about their empty lives and then duping other people into believing their t...

If there is one true god, then shouldn't there be one true religion? The fact that all these religions infect the earth, each claiming to be about the one true god, pretty much shows us how real it all is.

We live in a primarily Christian nation. I grew up with Christianity, I was a Christian, I researched it. Trying to claim Christian bashing is like a guy complaining too much about drowning in the ocean. There are other ways to die, but water is kinda what's on his mind.

But its not like any other religion has any better story. They are all nothing more than people making up stories to make themselves feel better about their empty lives and then duping other people into believing their tripe because we tolerate the teaching of superstition and mythology more readily than critical thinking. Or they recognize how inherently stupid and gullible people are so do it for personal gain (ie. Scientology)

This becomes obvious in a nation where a slimy snake oil salesman can make an easy living with alternative medicines such as homeopathy, fungshwa (not even going to bother looking up correct spelling), psychic hotlines, speaking with the dead, tarot readers, and bible thumpers.

The religion of Christianity is just more common and easier to expose. When you can prove the exploits of Jesus without referring to a book written by people who wanted to believe in Jesus (ie. using REAL historic recordings) then maybe you'll start to have a leg to stand on.

For someone to make the statement "the blind leading the blind" from the standpoint of a believer is quite astonishing considering that a cornerstone of religion is blind faith. Every single believer has garnered their faith based on nothing more than the faith of those who came before them.

As for no one having a 'for sure' answer - while that may be true in the greater sense of knowledge there are things that we can know and surmise based on reality. While the question of the existence of god can fall into the "not know for sure" category the question of the existence of a particular god[b] does not. The claims that religion makes can be tested and the logic behind the definitions and [b]...

For someone to make the statement "the blind leading the blind" from the standpoint of a believer is quite astonishing considering that a cornerstone of religion is blind faith. Every single believer has garnered their faith based on nothing more than the faith of those who came before them.

As for no one having a 'for sure' answer - while that may be true in the greater sense of knowledge there are things that we can know and surmise based on reality. While the question of the existence of god can fall into the "not know for sure" category the question of the existence of a [b]particular god[b] does not. The claims that religion makes can be tested and the logic behind the definitions and descriptions of their proposed gods can be examined. On this platform we can very well know of the veracity and possibility of god claims when the believers begin to adorn their gods with characteristics and histories.

here is one reason why you should begin attending Sunday services

Encouraging hypocrisy. How genuinely very Christian of you.

Further, as to the referenced study, I have absolutely no reason to believe that an exercise in hypocrisy will benefit me in any way. The study's lead author says, contrary to your assumed outcome:

Although the study noted a decreased risk of death, Schnall wouldn't
say that the prescription for good health is to attend religious
services regularly.

So, as is the norm among the faithful, you suggest I play a game of three-card Monte for my own best interest. Sorry. Homey don't play dat.

Then, you offer this:

I can't imagine why so...

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here is one reason why you should begin attending Sunday services

Encouraging hypocrisy. How genuinely very Christian of you.

Further, as to the referenced study, I have absolutely no reason to believe that an exercise in hypocrisy will benefit me in any way. The study's lead author says, contrary to your assumed outcome:

Although the study noted a decreased risk of death, Schnall wouldn't
say that the prescription for good health is to attend religious
services regularly.

So, as is the norm among the faithful, you suggest I play a game of three-card Monte for my own best interest. Sorry. Homey don't play dat.

Then, you offer this:

I can't imagine why someone who suffers from all 20 reasons would outlive someone who doesn't.

While I am aware of the 20 reasons in life and by observation understand how they come to bear upon those who subject themselves to the foolishness of religion, as a general rule none of them cause me suffering in my life because I do not adhere to any belief system which would demand my subjugation and contrition to the enforced dysfunction the appropriate articles of faith would incur. The only time I "suffer" from them is when some do-gooder thinks I'd benefit from their own personal delusion and embarks upon a mission to save me from my own rationality, something they are unable to pursue given the irrationality of their conviction. Nice try, though.

I had an atheist roommate for a very long period of time. We were "friends" years before that. He also was into the "Third Reich" as well (he also was of German decent). I put up with that crap for quite a long time. I am a good listener. Anyway...one day I asked him what sort of a belief system do you have then? His answer was just this, "I don't". So then I asked well then why be here at all, why don't you just kill yourself and end your misery right now then? He told me that since all he has is the right now, then it (life) was more precious. I gotta tell ya reading the "Atheist American" magazine in the bathroom had me in stitches every day. Stupidly I thought that maybe some of my opin...

I had an atheist roommate for a very long period of time. We were "friends" years before that. He also was into the "Third Reich" as well (he also was of German decent). I put up with that crap for quite a long time. I am a good listener. Anyway...one day I asked him what sort of a belief system do you have then? His answer was just this, "I don't". So then I asked well then why be here at all, why don't you just kill yourself and end your misery right now then? He told me that since all he has is the right now, then it (life) was more precious. I gotta tell ya reading the "Atheist American" magazine in the bathroom had me in stitches every day. Stupidly I thought that maybe some of my opinions and beliefs would rob off onto him, but nay. It has been proven that when good and bad are together for very long, the bad will usually take over the good. Such as, poor language habits, etc.

So then I asked well then why be here at all, why don't you just kill yourself and end your misery right now then?

I think it more apt to ask you that question. You believe you have a god and glorious afterlife awaiting you. Why continue the drudgery of life where believers often cite that the world is being controlled by Satan?

And if your belief system has a belief against suicide, why not murder all those you find who have found god? Sure, you would mandate yourself to the bowels of hell for murder, but think of all those believers you would send to salvation during a time of life when they believe - of all those innocent children who would go immediately to god before the...

So then I asked well then why be here at all, why don't you just kill yourself and end your misery right now then?

I think it more apt to ask you that question. You believe you have a god and glorious afterlife awaiting you. Why continue the drudgery of life where believers often cite that the world is being controlled by Satan?

And if your belief system has a belief against suicide, why not murder all those you find who have found god? Sure, you would mandate yourself to the bowels of hell for murder, but think of all those believers you would send to salvation during a time of life when they believe - of all those innocent children who would go immediately to god before they could be corrupted. Wouldn't such a selfless act be rewarded by the god you worship? All those saved souls?

It has been proven that when good and bad are together for very long, the bad will usually take over the good. Such as, poor language habits, etc.

, religion, self sanctimonious attitudes, arrogance, superiority, proofless conviction of being right, reliance on anecdotal evidence, the absolute certainty of subjective experiences over objective ones, intolerance, bigotry, self flagellation, moral superiority ...

you may be right ...

Yes, those are exactly what the Atheists I've known (including my own father) have presented themselves to me. I do not believe in a "heaven, or a hell. Those are Catholic additions made some 400 years after the death of the "Great Prophet". When life is so miserable here on Earth, then what can you do to control the unhappy and rebellious masses? Tell them they will suffer even after death. I do believe in a solid moral code of ethics. You scare me a bit with all of your talk of murder. It would create chaos if there were no rules at all. Is this what you propose? A lawless society? Kill anyone who displeases you? I have flirted with the idea of becoming the greatest benevolent dictator, b...

Yes, those are exactly what the Atheists I've known (including my own father) have presented themselves to me. I do not believe in a "heaven, or a hell. Those are Catholic additions made some 400 years after the death of the "Great Prophet". When life is so miserable here on Earth, then what can you do to control the unhappy and rebellious masses? Tell them they will suffer even after death. I do believe in a solid moral code of ethics. You scare me a bit with all of your talk of murder. It would create chaos if there were no rules at all. Is this what you propose? A lawless society? Kill anyone who displeases you? I have flirted with the idea of becoming the greatest benevolent dictator, but I don't like the idea of people just running around killing and destoying...oops they do that now, oh well.

dmoon, if you are responding to my comment I think you need to reread it. My point was that the question of self obliteration would best be presented to Christians. They are the ones who have convinced themselves they know an afterlife.

A non believer isn't hung up on all the gobbly gook of needing a sky daddy to give them purpose. Life just is what we make of it.

At least you admit that religion is about setting rules for people. It served a purpose in the past when social morality was still evolving and helped to protect groups against other raiding groups. But its evident that religion has worn out its need and now only befuddles people.

As for the murder, disturbing as it is, it only...

dmoon, if you are responding to my comment I think you need to reread it. My point was that the question of self obliteration would best be presented to Christians. They are the ones who have convinced themselves they know an afterlife.

A non believer isn't hung up on all the gobbly gook of needing a sky daddy to give them purpose. Life just is what we make of it.

At least you admit that religion is about setting rules for people. It served a purpose in the past when social morality was still evolving and helped to protect groups against other raiding groups. But its evident that religion has worn out its need and now only befuddles people.

As for the murder, disturbing as it is, it only underlines the tendency of religion to wipe away rational thought and encourage people to perform horrific crimes because they feel they know whats best for other people. Through their blind faith they are able to do the most horrific things, all in the name of god. Just read through history for examples.

Please, open your eyes. They are done in the name of any god in any religion.

We don't need the mythology of god to get along. People will continue to strive for the same things they honestly strive for now : a betterment of their lives, a future for the children.

You have a fallacy of hope and curiosity. Religion isn't required for it. Every living person on Earth is proof of it. Entire nations function and they do not put their hope in your god. Huge populations of non believers function happily with hope and curiosity and they do so without the need of your god. You function without the need of non belief or the belief in a god different from the one you believe.

This means that your ...

Please, open your eyes. They are done in the name of any god in any religion.

We don't need the mythology of god to get along. People will continue to strive for the same things they honestly strive for now : a betterment of their lives, a future for the children.

You have a fallacy of hope and curiosity. Religion isn't required for it. Every living person on Earth is proof of it. Entire nations function and they do not put their hope in your god. Huge populations of non believers function happily with hope and curiosity and they do so without the need of your god. You function without the need of non belief or the belief in a god different from the one you believe.

This means that your god, or any god, is not required for society to function. As it is with birth, atheism is the default position of this society.

And Christianity doesn't use hope for society to function. It uses fear and consequence to function. "Do the correct thing or burn in torment forever". This is all the same failed argument religious people make about morality.

You do not even know who "my" God is

The moment you claim to have that knowledge we know you are a liar, or at best deluded.

The only reason I mentioned Islam is because they DO use bloody terrorism NOW

Uhm.... Until Obama took office America was lead for the past 8 years by a self professed Christian who authorized terrorist methods against a people who were not behind an attack on our soil. This same man, supported by the Christians of this nation, authorized and encouraged the use of torture as a means of interrogation.

We have an ongoing religious war on science by many fundamentalists who's only evidence to question science is their unflagging will to n...

You do not even know who "my" God is

The moment you claim to have that knowledge we know you are a liar, or at best deluded.

The only reason I mentioned Islam is because they DO use bloody terrorism NOW

Uhm.... Until Obama took office America was lead for the past 8 years by a self professed Christian who authorized terrorist methods against a people who were not behind an attack on our soil. This same man, supported by the Christians of this nation, authorized and encouraged the use of torture as a means of interrogation.

We have an ongoing religious war on science by many fundamentalists who's only evidence to question science is their unflagging will to not admit they are wrong.

I assume I need not remind you of all the medical clinics that have been bombed by American religious terrorists over the issue of abortion?

There are also church bombings by people of variant Christian beliefs because religious terrorists really hate it when people don't follow EXACTLY what they believe.

There is also the attacks and terrorism put upon homosexuals by many religious groups because they have chosen to moderate the free will of people.

Let us not forget when Christians terrorize non believers, as in the case of Nicole Smalkowski and her father Chester

Sure, you can brag that there is not a large contingent of Christians sawing off the heads of people in our streets - but terrorism comes in many flavors and killing need not be part of the formula to terrorize society.

Sometimes you make me laugh. You remind me of the English debate method, in which when you get into a tight corner, you attack the opponent's intellect, or his morals. I don't like to let much of my personal life into these blogs, but you have stirred up some defenses in me. I absolutely despise and reject organized religion. I am a Scientist (bio-chemist) by trade. Upon my first visit to the inner world through an electron microscope, I knew that there was more than our tiny brains could ever surmise. My quest continues. Throughout these many years, I have had the delight to come to the conclusion that this universe is not a grand happenstance. It has a creator. To a Goldfish in a bowl we a...

Sometimes you make me laugh. You remind me of the English debate method, in which when you get into a tight corner, you attack the opponent's intellect, or his morals. I don't like to let much of my personal life into these blogs, but you have stirred up some defenses in me. I absolutely despise and reject organized religion. I am a Scientist (bio-chemist) by trade. Upon my first visit to the inner world through an electron microscope, I knew that there was more than our tiny brains could ever surmise. My quest continues. Throughout these many years, I have had the delight to come to the conclusion that this universe is not a grand happenstance. It has a creator. To a Goldfish in a bowl we are Gods . The lights go on and off, food is provided, sometimes we forget to clean the bowl, and when we do clean it there is a great and horrible upheaval. If we told that fish everything we know, what could it do with the information? This is my attitude about we humans in our tiny world. This is the sweet mystery of life. These are the fundamentals. Be true to yourself. Be true to others. Know that you have a long journey ahead, to where is not the issue. To have an unconditional love of the Creator and it for you, is not so unlike a child and parent's relationship; maybe even like a love for a pet. It is also my opinion that this creator does not interfere in the affairs of humans. We are left to our own devices and that is where the blame should land.
We are able to manipulate the materials, but as yet, we have not been able to truly create life on our own. Do not criticize what you do not know for sure. You may not like what you see, but that is your prerogative I wouldn't waste my time trying to convince others who are firm in their opinions and beliefs to change over to your way of thinking. I will not try to change you, I am only responding in self-defense. Everyone else will have to defend themselves.

Oortcloud
This is the insult I was speaking of:

The moment you claim to have that knowledge we know you are a liar, or at best deluded. .

As for the mammalian society, it consists of an Alpha pair. It is a "pack instinct". To a dog we are the Alpha, not a god. Cat's? Who knows? Nowhere in my statements did I ever claim that fish had intellectual mind sets. It was merely a metaphor. In your haste to attack me you try to put extra meanings into simple comparisons, and try to make them look like literal translations. Again a debate method I am fully aware of.(bbl. The Power to Persuade by Salley DeWhitt Spurgin And Strategies for Speakers by Strong & Cook)
At any rate the enti...

Oortcloud
This is the insult I was speaking of:

The moment you claim to have that knowledge we know you are a liar, or at best deluded. .

As for the mammalian society, it consists of an Alpha pair. It is a "pack instinct". To a dog we are the Alpha, not a god. Cat's? Who knows? Nowhere in my statements did I ever claim that fish had intellectual mind sets. It was merely a metaphor. In your haste to attack me you try to put extra meanings into simple comparisons, and try to make them look like literal translations. Again a debate method I am fully aware of.(bbl. The Power to Persuade by Salley DeWhitt Spurgin And Strategies for Speakers by Strong & Cook)
At any rate the entire message ( if you had read it correctly), was that don't try to change my mind, and I won't try to change yours. I'll letting that statement be my final on this whole ridiculous matter. Thank you for your attention, have a nice day.

I wouldn't know if Finding Nemo is good, as I've never seen it other than in commercials; I only mentioned it because its characters are anthropomorphized fish. My favorite book is Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas Hofstadter. It taught me more about my thought processes than half a lifetime in schools, and I think for myself, thank you. I used to go to movies every month or so, but after my wife died, I lost my enthusiasm for them. My annual reading list comes to well over 150 per year, perhaps more. I just went through a theology phase, took a break with some genre fiction and am now on politics and linguistics. I'm probably going to do a stretch o...

I wouldn't know if Finding Nemo is good, as I've never seen it other than in commercials; I only mentioned it because its characters are anthropomorphized fish. My favorite book is Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas Hofstadter. It taught me more about my thought processes than half a lifetime in schools, and I think for myself, thank you. I used to go to movies every month or so, but after my wife died, I lost my enthusiasm for them. My annual reading list comes to well over 150 per year, perhaps more. I just went through a theology phase, took a break with some genre fiction and am now on politics and linguistics. I'm probably going to do a stretch on psychology next. Books do not do my thinking for me (unlike many people whose only thoughts are from some scripture or other); they stimulate the thought I already have.

Attending a weekly religious service, regardless of your faith, may lower your risk of death by 20 percent compared to people who don't attend services, researchers are reporting.

Yeah. Tell that to Greg McKendry, Linda Kreager, Tammy Sommers, and visitors John Worth, Joe Barnhardt, Jack Barnhardt, and Linda Chavez. Tell that to George Tiller.