Good post. I've had an atheist friend for a while that I enjoyed hanging out with. I also resented the fact that he was an atheist. People should consider that its not the religion that determine a persons personality but the environment they grew up in.

One fact about religion is that it may not seem opaque but religion requires you to have a general belief that yours is much superior than the next. If you follow a certain religious group this becomes evident (provided you have an open mind to realize it).

It’s a psychological dependency of religion you cant avoid. Its pretty much the same with being a patriot. To some people patriotism means hating other nations. (we’ve all see this before… Canadian’s Hating Americans, Indians Hating Pakistanis… and vice versa) Most believers share the idea that the more they detests someone else’s belief system and the more their god will cherish them.

And what’s more is that you cannot tell them that this is not the way religion should be practiced, because it’s a belief system… and if they choose to believe it that way then it’s a choice we have to deal with. The only thing we can do is be the ones mature enough to respect it.

I agree with st anger. The fact of the matter is that you cannot get rid of religion. Its a natural part of our life. Ever since we were primitive we've always beleaved in a superior being because we as a human still question our existence from this point on. The theory of evolution ie: science is just another form of a beleaf system and if you choose to believe in that rather than the idea of creationism then its a choice you make for your self. Just because you believe in something doesn’t make the rest of the world false. Unfortunately, like st anger said its hard to split apart from the idea that your general belief is much more superior than the other when talking aabout religion. (I guess its just a cavit that comes with believing in something)

michelle, does that make me wrong to say that beleaving in something is the same as having a beleaf for not beleaving in something? If thats the case then doesnt this make atheists non-athiests to begin with?

Thanks for the comments folks, my goal here was not to discourage religion so much as it was to state that it(religion) should never limit human potential or personal/relational growth or desires.

Michelle and St anger makes a strong argument. And I couldn't of said it better my self, so ill vote to that.

Well, I guess my job and point for this topic are done and have been made, I'm actually glad to see this kind of un-angered, open discussion. I wish the rest of humanity was this open.