True, I will be have that "dirt bath" (you're quite the wordsmith, aren't you?) when I die. Meanwhile, as a believer, you're mired in bullshit right now, up to and including your eyeballs.
Human nature is an assault on reason, because we are not rational creatures at heart. Love is not reason, but it is a major part of human existence. It would be one thing if the "rational" here always act rational...but they don't. Few, if any have achieved peace of mind through reason alone. Human nature desires more than pure reason, as it is not human nature to be unemotional. We have two sides of the brain...not one. I'll side with jem in as much as no man is in a position to judge the ultimate reason for man's existence, and the levels of anger and disgust expressed by the resident angry atheists here at ET toward those who love God is truly not reasonable. Atheists are not forced to believe in God. They are free to change the channel to one that is in line with their own beliefs. There is no reason at all beyond some personal resentments to attack belief in God or a man's simple belief in God as long as his actions are not political in forcing others to adopt his own belief. Having issues with what men do in the name of God is an entirely different subject. That is politics, and politicians have used everything to advance their agenda, including "reason." People do some pretty bad stuff in the name of nearly everything that is human nature, and rationalize it and justify it accordingly. Why not just have a live and let live attitude? Why the need to persecute those with a different belief system than your own?
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To the extent that True Believers seek to exert political power, religion affects non-believers as well: http://www.theocracywatch.org/taking_over.htm http://www.theocracywatch.org/introduction2.htm If people would only leave their religion at home and not wear it on their sleeve, then it would not be obtrusive, intrusive and invasive to those who want no part of it.
first, no, no I'm not a wordsmith. Second, you're using your system of beliefs to catagorize me as a "believer", what-ever the hell "believer" might mean. Third, Animals Reason, the idea they don't is not reasonable to anyone with a ounce of the ability to reason.
and this guy concerns himself with stamping out bigotry ... you may be suprised how reasonable most people who attend church are .... (me being not among them) ...... many churches do not spend any time discussing an old man in the sky directoring things. It's kind of funny that people such as yourself are first to prescribe pyshcotherapy primarily, and perhaps only, because it has a "scientific" name. I can't really convey how irrating I find the "god is a fairy" line-of-thinking, actually I could, if I gave a damn to ...
good god.... You do believe in Democracy, No? Of course you don't. You're a liberal democrat, who yearns to enforce his enlightened opinion on the masses.... 90% of the population believe in "GOD", whatever that may be, for most it represents Divinity, Perfection. (ie: NOT YOU) It's political season ..... and I'm beginning to feel political again.
To the extent that true non believers seek to exert political power, non religion affects the believers as well. The point is simple, it is not about what a person believes, it is about what they do in their own personal life and how they attempt to force others to their beliefs. Were the atheists to simply state their beliefs and not be resentful or angry with those who opt for other beliefs... But that's not what we see here at ET. We see people who have an ax to grind against those who believe in God, or practice a religion. The irrationality of the response by the resentful atheists is that the person who simply says he believes in God and has never done any harm to the atheist is subjected to the venom of the resentful atheist for the transgressions of others. Personal beliefs always stay on the level of personal beliefs, when they extend beyond personal beliefs into actions that are political, then the man is to blame, not the man's religion or beliefs. Only in the actions do we see problem, only in the actions. Then those actions go to what a man should do to other men, not what man should do in his relationship with God.