Religion

[Alardem]

Indeed, you would not think to yourself, e.g., "If God is all-loving, why is there evil in the world?" after reading the Bible. On the contrary, you would recognize that question doesn't make any Biblical sense. I won't, therefore, attempt to address any straw men on why, e.g., God would not fulfill the wishes of those who ask from Him.

I like the holier-than-thou attitude you take, Spock. So I take it you can't answer that question yourself? :p

@Dogfood:

My stance is that my life - however long I have - is all I've got, and that the same applies for the rest of us. It's why I'm so adamantly opposed to death, and why I'm frustrated by those who say sacrificing our happiness for the sake of something after death is sensible. It's this bullshit that humans use to justify inequality - Hindu and Buddhist beliefs can be twisted so that people claim the suffering deserve what they get for bad karma in a previous life, and that the prosperous have been rewarded by past deeds. Christians, on the other hand, may claim that the suffering will be rewarded after they're dead - conveniently leaving those not helping them off the hook. What matters is making others around us happy now.

For what it's worth, that is what many churches and temples do now - provide material aid for those who need it, be it animal or orphaned/homeless/sickly people. There have been many religious people who've used their faith to strive for equality and happiness, like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I don't agree with making religion into a straw-man, because irregardless of my own beliefs a huge amount of people follow their own spiritual beliefs and it's immature to say they're all insane/wrong.

I'm atheist, but I'm perturbed by how many other atheists appear to still hold onto countless other biases and irrationalities that can make them seem less tolerant than a person with faith. Religion shouldn't necessarily be demonized, as any ideology can be twisted to an unpleasant cause.