Dear Jay,

Grateful belongs to the Sufi sect of Islam, which is extremely peaceful (and persecuted by Daesh). Time and again he presented here references to show that his religious instructors abhor violence and even see the concept of "Jihad" as an internal struggle within one's soul to fight off one's weaknesses of character.

Your attacks on innocent people is unwarranted, but especially as a non-believer, how can you claim that a non-existent Allah could have ordered people to kill each other?

Yutsie: how can you claim that a non-existent Allah could have ordered people to kill each other?

The people of Islam believe that Allah/God orders them to kill people who are not Moslem. That's what is says in the Koran multiple times, regardless of what Sect a Moslem belongs too. Does it not?

Killing of unbelievers is not an option. It is a definite Order from Allah/God anyway you look at it within Islam.

AJ: The most disappointing thing about all this is that I can tell that you are actually a really nice person. But as I pointed out earlier, religious beliefs appear to take on a life of their own and hijack their hosts. They even spread themselves like a virus and evolve to suit their environment like viruses do.

I Second that.

Islam is not unique in commanding its followers to kill the infidel. The Bible clearly commands its followers to do likewise.

Deuteronomy 13:6 If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers; 13:7 Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; 13:8 Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him: 13:9 But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. 13:10 And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die; because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.

Most Jews and Christians are too civilised to literally follow that evil book. Quite possibly most Jews and Christians are unaware that the passage exists. However, it and similar passages exist in that evil book.

david f: Deuteronomy 13:6.

Yes I'm quite familiar with the passage, also the one that says that you have to eat your children if you haven't got any food left in a siege. There are lots like that in Deuteronomy.

no one in Religions has taken any notice of those passages for thousands of years. All except Islam that is. Still living in the dirt of a Desert in the 6th Century. That's their thing but they can keep it in the Desert from whence it came along with their Allah/God. Civilized people don't do those sorts of things anymore.

Don Battan...i blame you for all this attention. If you hadn't had brought forth such a succinct and powerful case against atheism they would not now be preoccupied with labeling me, my beautiful family and blessed friends as evil and threatening us with a stateless existence.

Australian culture seems to be going through a crisis. Materialism is not bringing happiness but increasing mental illness, suicides, alcohol and drug abuse, misogyny, racism, domestic violence and pedophilia.

Leigh Sales coped it last night from Labor supporters. People no longer seem to be able to express their disagreement in civil terms but resort to abuse and vicious personal attacks:

http://m.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/news-and-current-affairs/federal-election-2016-abcs-leigh-sales-republishes-relentless-twitter-abuse-20160701-gpw3n2.html

Sad

What has this to do withe the case against atheism? Plenty. This is your legacy. Explain how we got here and provide a solution. You've got all these wonderful theories. Let's see just how useful they are.

Yes, grateful, “succinct and powerful”. And yet, funnily enough, neither you nor Dan are able to negate a single argument against Batten's article.

<<Materialism is not bringing happiness but increasing mental illness, suicides, alcohol and drug abuse, misogyny, racism, domestic violence and pedophilia.>>

Actually, those things have not increased. We’re just more aware of them. Compounding our false perception of the extent of these issues is our increased sensitivity to them with the increase in information available and a 24-hour news cycle.

<<Leigh Sales coped it last night from Labor supporters. People no longer seem to be able to express their disagreement in civil terms but resort to abuse and vicious personal attacks:>>

Oh, tell me about it! But you can change your ways, grateful. Yuyutsu willing, you can change your ways.

<<What has this to do withe the case against atheism? Plenty. This is your legacy. Explain how we got here and provide a solution. You've got all these wonderful theories. Let's see just how useful they are.>>

I’m sorry to inform you, grateful, that violence (worldwide) continues to decline and societal health continues to increase with the decline in religiosity. It’s a pity you never applied your statistical knowledge to criminology as I did. It is a media-exacerbated myth that the world is going to pot. Here’s those links again:

http://moses.creighton.edu/jrs/2005/2005-11.pdf
http://www.skepticmoney.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/table-religion-vs.....png
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdtwTeBPYQA

Simply digging your heels in and re-asserting your baseless claims isn't going to make them come true, I'm afraid. The decline in religion has seen unprecedented peace and tolerance. The problems you cite are actually religion's legacy, not atheism's.