I think it is thrilling and inspiring that human beings can be good without the help or threat of some sort of omniscient omnipotent being surveying them constantly.
This is what your question sounds like to me: What a miserable existence you must live, not believing in outlandish lies to make yourself feel less shitty about the truth. How do you manage that?
Here's the thing. I don't want some stagnant, dogmatic mythology to comfort me. Sure I might want to believe that we all go to a magical land of candy and happy after we die, but I'm not going to believe it just because I want it to be so. That is rather foolish don't you think? It reminds me of when children want a toy and the parents say no, I don't have the money for that. And the child counters with: "But I want it, you have to!" But the child isn't going to get that toy, because that's just the inescapable fact of the matter. Besides, religion doesn't just create nice comforting lies. It can create horrible nasty lies like unbaptized babies go to limbo when they die, if you worship the wrong God you burn and suffer for all eternity, etc.
Religion seems all happy and loving NOW. That's because its powers are waning. Not so long ago before this, not believing could cost you your life. They forced their dogma down our throats and had a monopoly and our minds when they were strong. We have become more educated and have discovered so much more about the world. The bully can't push us around anymore because we can hold our own. Now it's saying: "Pfft all that opression, hellfire, and violence? Ah that was the old us, that's in the past man, chill out. I just wanna be yer bud! Jesus just wants to rap with ya man." It has to take that tactic if it wants to survive.
I don't believe in God. I believe with education, science, logic, and a thirst for self-improvement, we will make the world a better place. There is no need for God.
You post is indeed very interesting and I really appreciate it. Although it's long you made it easier to read, again thank you.
Now about you said:
You have described in the first part a very common phenomenon that unfortunately is present even in the 21st century. I am taking about religios indoctrination that creates extremists. It creates those Christians that belive they know God's will and everybody should listen to them, those Muslims that commit suicide in God's name, those Judaists that claim some land because God's gave it to them and those Hindus that used to burn women alive because goddess Khali wanted so. I partially agree with you, because people have used religion to manipulate people in order to fulfill their own agenda for century. However I cannot agree with you when you blame religion for that. I would rather blame the lack of education for it. Because it is the lack of education that makes people vulnerable to manipulation in any of it's forms. That doesn't mean that inteligent people can't be manipulated. One of the best example is USA's "war on terrorism" that made some of the most inteligent people on earth belive they are doing something good while in reality only served someone's agenda. However this in not a political forum so I won't go further.
The war on terror is a terrible example for you to prove your point. George Bush is not an atheist he is a Conservative Christian. And he actually framed the war on terror as a "Crusade". Many people in the United States supported attacking them based on religious differences. There was a great deal of anti-Islamic sentiments at the time, and even today. Besides, I think you're confusing secularism with Atheism. You're attaching ideologies to Atheism, when Atheism is not attached or associated with anything political. Atheism is not secular politics. And this religious extremism thing is not a 21st century phenomenon. Look at the crusades, the Spanish Inquisition. Look at all the holy wars fought over the last couple milennia.
That being said, if you aren't capable of defending your points than I guess I will have to do it for you. War and ignorance does not require Religion to happen. It is about fear and ignorance, and lack of education. But here's the thing, by claiming to have all the answers and scaring people with threats of damnation, Religion perpetuated this fear and ignorance to further their own agenda. That is almost the entire basis of religion, a tool to keep the masses in check. Rational, empirical thought does not do this. It does not claim to have all the answers. But when it does find definitive answers, they are based on rigorous testing and logic. And if you use logic and empiricism to convince people of a plan of action you are not preying on their ignorance and fear. You are educating them. That is why I would rather use science as my guidepost. Sure it doesn't have all the answers yet, but they don't just make shit up. Besides it is always moving forward and discovering more. It only grows stronger and forces Religion to give more and more ground. The opposite will never be true. Science won't have to do the awkward: "Oh that limbo thing we said a while ago? Just ignore that now".
You also said that atheists tend to see the world as it is, as a not-so-friendly-human place. That you tend to make this world better by not concentrating on an after life. I do agree went you say that this world is not so nice, but how exactlly do you make it better? As much as I know the atheism is growing but the wars are still present, thousands of people are murdered while their murderers are seen as "peace keepers", there are extreme wealth differences between people, when some don't care about tommorow while others try to survive from a day to another. Misery and suffering still exist in more than half of the world. Illnesses and epidemies are still a big problem. These are just a few of the problems we have to face today. So how have the atheists made the world better?
Here's the thing. The world is better. It is less violent and murderous than it has been in a long time and this trend shows no sign of stopping.
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/steven_pinker_on_the_myth_of_violence.html
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...ence-has-stopped-making-sense/article2186573/
That's the sad thing, that the world is still so terrible, and yet it has never been better in that respect. Medicine is making magnificent advances. They can remove tumours and correct tremors with ultrasounds now! Just because violence and disease still exist doesn't mean that science and reason is failing. Because unlike religion, Science doesn't claim to have all the solutions, they're simply just working towards finding them.
What has religion ever done to cure illness? When Mother Teresa was sick and dying, she didn't pray to be healed and stay in one of her sick beds at a Sisters of Charity location. She went to one of the finest hospitals in the United States.
You don't need faith to accept science because it works and actually provides verifiable evidence.
