I'm not sure I agree totally, DavidJS.

>>For the religiously devout there is also the problem of who to believe<<

I doubt that this is a serious issue with many religious dogmatists. It would be interesting to see some statistics, but I would suggest that the vast majority of folk who put their hands up and say "I'm religious" have been adherents of the one religion forever.

The rate of conversion is, I suspect, very low - and if anyone knows where to find the numbers on this I'd be grateful.

But most importantly, I suspect the number of people who decide first that they are religious, and then sit down to work out which religion to follow, is not only minimal, but non-existent.

The reality is that a huge percentage were "brought up" with a religion. If you are born of Jewish parents, then the chances are that you will grow up to be i) Jewish, ii) agnostic or iii) atheist. If you are born in Riyadh, the chances are that you will grow up to be be i) Muslim or ii) dead. If you were brought up as a Christian then etc.etc.

As the article points out, The facts point to the considerable possibility that religion is in fact a social, rather than transcendental, phenomenon.

"...religions are social institutions that are very effective at providing community, solidarity and mutual support"

There is no specific requirement for a godless country to be evil, but if 100% of those around you are of the same religion - as in Saudi Arabia - then the chances of you even considering an alternative are pretty low.

If only more religionists would accept this simple fact, that the existence of religion is determined by an individual's place of birth, and their upbringing, as opposed to the possibility of a supreme being, we would be living in a far more stable world.

I am an atheist.

My concern with religions is that they affect my life in a way I don't want it affected.

And because I see it as illogical and harmful and a whole lot of other things, I argue as rationally as I can against religions whenever the opportunity arises.

The idea of worshipping something or somebody (other than the Rabbitohs) irks me. Having faith in something that does not deserve faith, even if it existed, is surely the pits.

GP, if you are claiming that one needs a creator to have meaning and purpose, then assuming you don't believe God was created by some other even higher God, then the logical conclusion is that God himself has no meaning or purpose. Alternatively, if God can have a meaning and purpose without being created, then so can you.

And any rate, my own life has plenty of meaning and purpose. I certainly can't imagine how positing some overbearing superbeing who, for whatever reason, decided to create himself a universe would add anything to it.

Well said Wiz.

Absolutely brilliant article. Hooray for common sense!

Faith has two sides. There is a beauty in the comfort it offers, but there is the ugliness in the simple truth that it's a self imposed ignorance. Faith, simply defined, is a belief in what's beyond reason. Therefore, you can't actually reason with people who have too much faith.

To my way of thinking, religion has three aspects - which funnily enough, if you're willing to think laterally, don't require religion at all.

1) Meaning of life.

I'm flummoxed by the people who think this is a hard question. Life's meaning can be to happy, and be content. Whilst I can see conservatives saying this is the gateway to hedonism, I'd say that hedonism ultimately doesn't make people happy - true happiness and contentment, lies in reflected happiness - making others happy. Understanding this leads to a giving person.

2) God.

Seems to me that 'faith' is more of a barrier to belief in a sensible god than it is a help, because it leads people to adopt the simplest concept of god, which doesn't actually fit what's around them.

Consider this: most monotheistic gods have a simple concept of god as an intelligent being, embroidered with additional aspects that are supposedly beyond our understanding.

However, if instead of utilising faith and observing the world around you, you see that intelligence isn't necessarily the best way to get things done.
We hear that god is beyond our understanding, but what if god simply wasn't an intelligence?

If intelligence is receiving information and making considered decisions, as opposed to instinct, then how can intelligence exist for an omnipotent being, which presumably is precluded from 'receiving information' as it has it already?

It can't be an intelligence. The idea of an intelligent god is all too human. We've attempted to create a 'bigger person' of sorts and put Him in charge.

Cont'd

Every day, there are thousands of interactions as energy moves between objects - be it wind, the waves and gravity, or the digestion of an insect by a frog. This sounds like new age nonsense to some, but it's also an indisputable fact.

I'd rather call this god. I can see it and I don't need faith to do so.

It doesn't care about the petty things in my life - some people might find that cold - the fact that it continues regardless of the acts of man. I find the opposite - no matter what we do, there will be a beautiful chemical interplay going on beyond our world in the galaxies beyond. Which leads to 3).

3) Afterlife.

Some people need to know their intelligence, who they are, will be intact once they die. I don't see evidence of this, but all the evidence points to our matter being recycled in new forms - so too, the electrical neurons that fire in our brain and make us think.

I won't be reincarnated in a simple single entity like a fish - I'll be spread out among many things, possible intelligence, or possibly the eruption of a volcano once life is gone.
This can be seen in the laws of conservation.
I will exist, in a new form, though who is to say what's lesser or greater. Trillions of years in the future, part of my neurons might form a small part of intelligence I can't grasp, making the spark that forms a beautiful decision in a single moment in time.

All of these things are self evident - they don't require faith, but if you're willing to be a little less hung up on the traditional aspect of existence, there is a great deal of beauty and comfort to be had. It's a spirituality, to be sure, but it doesn't require me to give up the reason I've been gifted with to sign up to institutionalised ignorance.

This is an alternative to religion, offering comfort and greatness beyond ourselves to ponder, without the hangups associated with faith.

Oh, we could all make good compost when we go, when we go!
Though it ain’t in the bible, it is so, that is so.
And the plants that we could fertilize, they would grow, they would grow.
Knowing that I could still be useful, and a benefit, is so peaceful
While I journey along the satisfying path of life.
Trying to make things better for my tribe and their friends’ litters,
And such other friendly critters, is feel-good of a goose-bumps raising kind.
I’ve no wish to burden heaven by wingin’ up there swingin’
To the same harmonious chorus that continues ‘til it bores us –
And there, I’d meet with many that are far too contemptible to know.
Among those sure to be present is good aura, and I’ll very much be for ‘er –
But the all-pervasive dogma will be a cert to sniff-out and bite me.
Yes, I have no wish nor intention there to go