You'd think having all the answers laid out for you via easy to follow circular logic would put your mind at ease and allow you to be quantifiably happier than say, an atheist.

Oddly enough this isn't the case, especially on PaRD. The majority of the so called Christians in particular conduct themselves like a bunch of overtly miserable cunts, especially concerning their religion.

Maybe some of you that have "found" religion after being an atheist, or vice versa, can weigh in on your level of happiness under the influence of religion comparative to while being sober.

Perhaps people who can't cope with the harsh reality of their daily lives, or traumatic experiences are more likely to cling to religion. As proven by several different polls/studies, the poorest nations also have the highest occurrence of religion. The few exceptions, like the USA, have strong correlations between poor areas and religion (the bible belt).


The Bible is basically a tool of oppression used to keep the working class meek and dumb, and religion in general is nothing more than a crutch for weak willed people who cannot accept reality as is.


http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/do-countries-lose-religion-as-they-gain-wealth-1.1310451
http://www.gallup.com/poll/142727/religiosity-highest-world-poorest-nations.aspx#1
http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2010/09/religions-correlation-with-poverty/

This post was edited by Plaguelord on Oct 17 2014 10:07am

I feel less happy and stupider after trying to make sense out of this biased thread

why bash something you don't believe in?

let the believers believe, it's not hurting you

it doesn't hurt me I like discussing the bible and Christianity even though I don't believe

If you keep swinging at something you don't believe in.....who looks like the crazy one?...

If you believe that Christianity doesn't hurt you as an American then you are simply not informed enough.

I view it as counterproductive and harmful to the collective human psyche, hence the bashing. The idea of an omnipotent creator and an afterlife trivializes everything. You follow the rules like a good boy to get your eternal reward. Boring.
Imagine what we could accomplish without all this nonsense holding an alarming portion of the population back.

I'm always open to the possibility that I'm wrong though. Maybe divine inspiration will strike me and I'll be born again at some point this weekend.



























And then I will finally have the power to have small children killed with bears if they displease me.


This post was edited by Plaguelord on Oct 17 2014 10:53am

How has Christianity hurt me? now we're talking me personally right because I know that religion has been responsible for war and bloodshed, but I do fear knowing human nature we'd still kill even without religion giving us an excuse.

but please I'm asking rationally why you think that it's hurt me personally?

Your tax dollars are being spent to further the agenda of the religious right in Israel. An ally the US only has due to it's religious connotations. Your school that you went to when growing up would have taught you things and not been allowed to teach you other things because of religion. People you come into contact in your life will hold religious ideals and others will not be able to express themselves to you properly because they are scare of the religious ideals instilled in you and the society you live in. From birth you are slowly conditioned by those who hold religious ideals to heart.

You will never know what you could have been without the way your society thinks... and your society thinks that way because it has been conditioned to do so by Christianity.

To put it simply... Religion is so prevalent in American culture that it is impossible to live unaffected by it...

This post was edited by Scaly on Oct 17 2014 11:02am

First Blue; The schools have a strict separation of church and state, evolution is taught no creationism, the bible is not taught and there is no prayer in school the only things the schools are not allowed to teach are religious ideals, which I'm 100% in agreement with.

Red: You may have a slightly mistaken view of our culture, having been a minister I still have some friends that are also serving small churches like I did, I've openly discussed my lack of faith with them via internet, and we write back and forth about faith based missues and non-faith based issues.
Also before becoming disabled I worked construction and the crews that I worked with were always comfortable talking about belief or not believing. We as a society having been based based on freedoms take the freedom of speech very dearly and for the most part at least in my experience IRL, when talking person to person, folks aren't really that worried about opening up.

To think that the way that society thinks could change or alter my destiny is silly, I'll go along with the environment around me molded me, but then I was surrounded by religion yet I didn't even think that I believed in god until I was flying to a trauma hospital in a chopper with a cluster of blood vessels bleeding out in my brain. that molded me the titanium plates screwed to my skull molded me, the scoliosis mixed with the dissolving discs in my spine causing my back to slowly break and cripple me that's molding me. but to say that the atmosphere of other's beliefs could affect my own thinking isn't giving me much credit now is it?

Have you grown up surrounded by atheists ? no religion around to rebel against? was there any that affected you?

"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

K

I'm not talking about overt religious propaganda. I'm talking about religiously driven moral values and social concepts that have become part of American culture.

I'm an atheist. I was a Christian. I was happier when I was a Christian. The world is a horrible place.