Alright so I don't really care about the atheist essay responces and I don't feel like writing it. I tried, but I got bored. So I am sure I will write on this topic again, and I am sure your responses will be almost identical so we'll wait till next time and I will just continue onwards.
~E.
Ejtower's Journal
My Podcast Link
05/04/2006 11:14 #22040
Not so Entirely Back afterall03/10/2006 14:44 #22039
I am BACK!Category: potpourri
Hello Everyone,
After some many weeks of not having a working computer I am now fully operational again. I am also fully wireless now thanks to (e:enknot) . My first order of business will be to read and respond to all of the comments that were left for me about my Atheist Life essay. I look forward to stiring the drama with you all.
~E.
After some many weeks of not having a working computer I am now fully operational again. I am also fully wireless now thanks to (e:enknot) . My first order of business will be to read and respond to all of the comments that were left for me about my Atheist Life essay. I look forward to stiring the drama with you all.
~E.
01/28/2006 13:49 #22038
Dead ComputerHi Everyone,
My computer has died. I will most likely be out of commission for a while until I can get another one.
Best Regards,
~Eric.
My computer has died. I will most likely be out of commission for a while until I can get another one.
Best Regards,
~Eric.
01/28/2006 00:56 #22037
The VirtuosoCategory: fiction prose
Authors Note: This is a breif fiction piece I worked up one day while listening to some music. Violin Music, but a pianist seemed better for the story. I hope you enjoy.
He was old, in the way trees are old, when he played the piano for the last time. A pianist for over seventy years, there was little doubt that he knew he was not long for this world. His life flew before him as he walked out from behind the heavy red curtains to thunderous applause. His mind drifted back to the first time he had heard that sound, he was 15 again, and it was 2020, the dawn of a golden age. The horrible wars had ended, and it seemed the whole world was finding new life.
It was the pain that brought him back. It reminded him that he was a long time from then, and much older. He didn't smile or wave at the audience as he approached the grand piano. He never did. The collar of his tuxedo was spiked, and he wore no tie. He never did. He was, as he always was, The Virtuoso. But now he had to shuffle slightly in his mirror black shoes. It was his posture that held the image intact. It always did.
He sighed to himself as he sat before his life long friend. The beauty, which had seen him through six discordant marriages, with which he could creature such harmony, that it brought tears to the eyes of marble statues. His hands moved across its varnish. Reflected in its gloss, he could see where his hair had receded to a collection of white wisps that he allowed to stick up in all manner of directions as tribute to his predecessors.
The sheet music that he had told them he would be playing sat in its stand before him. It was a piece he had composed many years ago to celebrate the rebirth of reason, the arrival of the second renaissance. He looked the sheets of music over now, paternally turning the pages to their intimately known ends. After viewing all the sheets, he took them and, with a flourish, made confetti of their contents. The audience gasped, but then went silent, watching. To him those notes were already dead, insufficiently composed for this event.
With this done, and before the last torn page of notes hit the floor, his hands were at work on the keys of the piano. The audience gasped again at the explosive triumph of this beginning. The notes were violent; yet they harmoniously spoke of life as no words could. Each passing moment was filled with expressions of his loves, his losses; his life's passions incarnate in music. The whole of it seemed to be building, reaching for a crescendo, but waiting just a moment longer to reach it because he was not ready yet.
He played for nearly an hour, pouring himself into the creation, and then, as the audience wept with the joy of the piece. It crescendos in a blaze; completing and joining all the themes into one final exhilarating, but absolute, end.
As the fingers of his right hand played the final notes in a hall of silence, his left slowly closed the fallboard over the keys. For a second or two there was no sound, a final rest in the music, and then the audience stood with tears in their eyes clapping in joy, and with enormous grief. For in that moment of final rest The Virtuoso had laid his head down across the fallboard concluding his life and work.
He was old, in the way trees are old, when he played the piano for the last time. A pianist for over seventy years, there was little doubt that he knew he was not long for this world. His life flew before him as he walked out from behind the heavy red curtains to thunderous applause. His mind drifted back to the first time he had heard that sound, he was 15 again, and it was 2020, the dawn of a golden age. The horrible wars had ended, and it seemed the whole world was finding new life.
It was the pain that brought him back. It reminded him that he was a long time from then, and much older. He didn't smile or wave at the audience as he approached the grand piano. He never did. The collar of his tuxedo was spiked, and he wore no tie. He never did. He was, as he always was, The Virtuoso. But now he had to shuffle slightly in his mirror black shoes. It was his posture that held the image intact. It always did.
He sighed to himself as he sat before his life long friend. The beauty, which had seen him through six discordant marriages, with which he could creature such harmony, that it brought tears to the eyes of marble statues. His hands moved across its varnish. Reflected in its gloss, he could see where his hair had receded to a collection of white wisps that he allowed to stick up in all manner of directions as tribute to his predecessors.
The sheet music that he had told them he would be playing sat in its stand before him. It was a piece he had composed many years ago to celebrate the rebirth of reason, the arrival of the second renaissance. He looked the sheets of music over now, paternally turning the pages to their intimately known ends. After viewing all the sheets, he took them and, with a flourish, made confetti of their contents. The audience gasped, but then went silent, watching. To him those notes were already dead, insufficiently composed for this event.
With this done, and before the last torn page of notes hit the floor, his hands were at work on the keys of the piano. The audience gasped again at the explosive triumph of this beginning. The notes were violent; yet they harmoniously spoke of life as no words could. Each passing moment was filled with expressions of his loves, his losses; his life's passions incarnate in music. The whole of it seemed to be building, reaching for a crescendo, but waiting just a moment longer to reach it because he was not ready yet.
He played for nearly an hour, pouring himself into the creation, and then, as the audience wept with the joy of the piece. It crescendos in a blaze; completing and joining all the themes into one final exhilarating, but absolute, end.
As the fingers of his right hand played the final notes in a hall of silence, his left slowly closed the fallboard over the keys. For a second or two there was no sound, a final rest in the music, and then the audience stood with tears in their eyes clapping in joy, and with enormous grief. For in that moment of final rest The Virtuoso had laid his head down across the fallboard concluding his life and work.
01/27/2006 11:17 #22036
My Atheist Life:Category: philosophy
A Brief Review of My Experience with Religion
I don't believe in God. God is a dangerous hindrance in our lives, born of primal fear, that impedes scientific inquiry, technological advancement, but most alarmingly it impedes our intellectual growth as individual human beings. In my life I have believed faithfully in many conceptions of God under a few different religions. Reviewing these experiences will make it clear that each of them lead me to live a life in contradiction with both reality and my best interests.
The earliest memories of my being Catholic are filled with horrifying images and an unexplained sense of guilt, like when my grandfather kissed the bloody feet of a statue of Jesus Christ nailed to the cross and a feeling that the crucifixion was somehow my fault swept over my mind. It began as a normal Sunday but it was shaken when I asked why we had to go to church. The answer was sharp; in retrospect this was because I was acting up a bit, and it sent my young mind into a spin of confusion. "We go to church," my grandmother said, "because we must say we are sorry for the sins we have committed against God." The implications were shocking to my young mind but it set the tone for many years to come. Jesus had died for my sins and somehow that was my fault. What could I do to right this wrong of so long ago?
The doctrine of original sin, more accurately described as the doctrine of undeserved guilt, is a horrible thing to saddle a child with at a young age. Yet it is the basis of the first rites given to a child. You are told from day one that you were born evil, that your life itself is intrinsically bad, and that you must live a life of atonement for this sin. When I accepted this guilt I did so because I knew no better, but I did so at the peril of my view on the world. This unearned guilt drove me to view reality as a malevolent object, caused me to view my own life as an affront to what was truly good: the image of a dying man staked to a cross.
As the years passed this guilt drove me away from The Church and into a new religious outlook, Occultism. I was searching for an escape from this malevolent world and hoped to find it in the ancient volumes of the occult. As a Catholic I was primed for a belief in the supernatural, but as an occultist I sought it out; yearned to find it to the point of self-delusion. Convinced of my ability to discover ghosts I sought them out in an active train tunnel, in Western Massachusetts where many hundreds of workers died in the 19th century. Walking around in the dark, four-mile long tunnel I thought I was suddenly able to hear them. It was then that I discovered what faith was all about: it is a dumb boy standing in an active train tunnel looking to understand the ineffable by staring into nothingness until the train comes...
Faith is a blindness that no individual can afford to contract for very long or live with consistently because our very survival depends on our interaction with reality and use of reason. There is no choice more destructive for a human being than to choose not to think and to believe on faith. All across the world today people choose to deny the provable benefits of western vaccinations because of their religious faiths. Their children are crippled by, or die of, diseases we haven't seen in half a century because their faith in superstition causes them to live in contradiction with the reality of western medications. As I stood against the tunnel wall, with a speeding train ten inches from my face, I realized faith could get you killed.
When I chose to live my life as an Atheist I did so not because I wanted to be different, but because I lived through the real dangers of theistic life both psychologically and physically. Theistic belief hindered my growth as an individual. I beat my primal fear of the dark unknown by holding up the candle of skeptical inquiry and realizing that God is a shadow and no more. When I finally chose to shrug these chains I found I was able to live my life freely. No longer impeded by unearned guilt or baseless faith, I was finally able to grow as an individual.
I don't believe in God. God is a dangerous hindrance in our lives, born of primal fear, that impedes scientific inquiry, technological advancement, but most alarmingly it impedes our intellectual growth as individual human beings. In my life I have believed faithfully in many conceptions of God under a few different religions. Reviewing these experiences will make it clear that each of them lead me to live a life in contradiction with both reality and my best interests.
The earliest memories of my being Catholic are filled with horrifying images and an unexplained sense of guilt, like when my grandfather kissed the bloody feet of a statue of Jesus Christ nailed to the cross and a feeling that the crucifixion was somehow my fault swept over my mind. It began as a normal Sunday but it was shaken when I asked why we had to go to church. The answer was sharp; in retrospect this was because I was acting up a bit, and it sent my young mind into a spin of confusion. "We go to church," my grandmother said, "because we must say we are sorry for the sins we have committed against God." The implications were shocking to my young mind but it set the tone for many years to come. Jesus had died for my sins and somehow that was my fault. What could I do to right this wrong of so long ago?
The doctrine of original sin, more accurately described as the doctrine of undeserved guilt, is a horrible thing to saddle a child with at a young age. Yet it is the basis of the first rites given to a child. You are told from day one that you were born evil, that your life itself is intrinsically bad, and that you must live a life of atonement for this sin. When I accepted this guilt I did so because I knew no better, but I did so at the peril of my view on the world. This unearned guilt drove me to view reality as a malevolent object, caused me to view my own life as an affront to what was truly good: the image of a dying man staked to a cross.
As the years passed this guilt drove me away from The Church and into a new religious outlook, Occultism. I was searching for an escape from this malevolent world and hoped to find it in the ancient volumes of the occult. As a Catholic I was primed for a belief in the supernatural, but as an occultist I sought it out; yearned to find it to the point of self-delusion. Convinced of my ability to discover ghosts I sought them out in an active train tunnel, in Western Massachusetts where many hundreds of workers died in the 19th century. Walking around in the dark, four-mile long tunnel I thought I was suddenly able to hear them. It was then that I discovered what faith was all about: it is a dumb boy standing in an active train tunnel looking to understand the ineffable by staring into nothingness until the train comes...
Faith is a blindness that no individual can afford to contract for very long or live with consistently because our very survival depends on our interaction with reality and use of reason. There is no choice more destructive for a human being than to choose not to think and to believe on faith. All across the world today people choose to deny the provable benefits of western vaccinations because of their religious faiths. Their children are crippled by, or die of, diseases we haven't seen in half a century because their faith in superstition causes them to live in contradiction with the reality of western medications. As I stood against the tunnel wall, with a speeding train ten inches from my face, I realized faith could get you killed.
When I chose to live my life as an Atheist I did so not because I wanted to be different, but because I lived through the real dangers of theistic life both psychologically and physically. Theistic belief hindered my growth as an individual. I beat my primal fear of the dark unknown by holding up the candle of skeptical inquiry and realizing that God is a shadow and no more. When I finally chose to shrug these chains I found I was able to live my life freely. No longer impeded by unearned guilt or baseless faith, I was finally able to grow as an individual.
ladycroft - 01/28/06 12:23
The beauty of living in America is to be able to have a choice and be allowed to express is freely. Yet I do not feel it's just to say faith makes us blind to reality and reason. You can argue that religion hinders science, for example if you’re discussing the debate on cloning or stem cell research. Science hinders science as well. Leonardo DaVinci was hundreds of years beyond his current technology and they said he was crazy. Einstein developed theories, which today are as true as we know it, but scientists called him crazy. That was slightly tangential, but my point is, do not clump religion and belief in a God as one in the same. Not all who believe practice a religion, not all who believe are blind to reality and reason.
The beauty of living in America is to be able to have a choice and be allowed to express is freely. Yet I do not feel it's just to say faith makes us blind to reality and reason. You can argue that religion hinders science, for example if you’re discussing the debate on cloning or stem cell research. Science hinders science as well. Leonardo DaVinci was hundreds of years beyond his current technology and they said he was crazy. Einstein developed theories, which today are as true as we know it, but scientists called him crazy. That was slightly tangential, but my point is, do not clump religion and belief in a God as one in the same. Not all who believe practice a religion, not all who believe are blind to reality and reason.
jason - 01/28/06 01:35
Since people are commenting for me more than EJ, sadly, I will offer a second comment.
It was not my argument that achievements have been made FOR God, on God's behalf, or because of God. In no way did I ever imply it, either. The point was, Religion is not a hindrance to advancing as a people scientifically, intellectually, or otherwise. To state otherwise is patently false and ignores the totality of human existence.
(e:duhjay) - your "commentary" here is only a poorly veiled attempt at Christian bashing. You are the guy who defended media reports of the Indian caste system by saying "Well well well, the Christians are only helping because they want to convert people!" Very poor. Go back to sleep.
About war - I think simply saying "Well wars between people of different religion have been waged, therefore it's God's fault" is a horribly short sighted way of looking at things. It has always been, even up until today, about racial superiority and the acquisition of land and other resources. Not to mention, numerous wars (I would argue, the largest and deadliest wars of this centry as well) were/are waged with Religion having nothing to do with it. I'm not saying Religion is a non-factor - but instead saying it is only one component of a far more sinister and complex problem. Would any of you actually put forth the notion that if there were no Religion there would be no war? We do evil to each other based on every single possible way of dividing ourselves.
Saying God believers are fools, or using shaming, harassing, or humiliating language always makes me sad. Why? That is the language of Falwell. That is the language of Robertson. That is the language of the Imams and every other son of a bitch who thinks they are better than someone else for X, Y, or Z reason. It is exactly the same destructive force that has left us in ruin over and over again. Fundie atheists are no better than fundie religious types. My atheist father taught me this. The cycle continues.
I guess I'm the only person confident enough in my beliefs to not have to do that. Saying "I believe in God" has never hindered me in any way, and it never will, and there isn't an argument or any evidence to make it true. All anyone can do to me is a pathetic attempt to humiliate me, which only reveals the person as ignorant, hateful, and prejudiced.
There isn't anyone alive who can say with any matter of truth or authority God is real or not. That is a truly eye-rolling thing to consider. We shouldn't make the mistake of thinking we know more than we do - whether it is about God, about whether or not my wife is cheating on me, or whether the Yankees are going to win the World Series again. What are my lucky lottery numbers? You get the point. None of us will know for sure until we pass, and everyone would be a lot better of if it was left at that.
Anyway, that's about all I have to say on the topic of God, at least on estrip.
Since people are commenting for me more than EJ, sadly, I will offer a second comment.
It was not my argument that achievements have been made FOR God, on God's behalf, or because of God. In no way did I ever imply it, either. The point was, Religion is not a hindrance to advancing as a people scientifically, intellectually, or otherwise. To state otherwise is patently false and ignores the totality of human existence.
(e:duhjay) - your "commentary" here is only a poorly veiled attempt at Christian bashing. You are the guy who defended media reports of the Indian caste system by saying "Well well well, the Christians are only helping because they want to convert people!" Very poor. Go back to sleep.
About war - I think simply saying "Well wars between people of different religion have been waged, therefore it's God's fault" is a horribly short sighted way of looking at things. It has always been, even up until today, about racial superiority and the acquisition of land and other resources. Not to mention, numerous wars (I would argue, the largest and deadliest wars of this centry as well) were/are waged with Religion having nothing to do with it. I'm not saying Religion is a non-factor - but instead saying it is only one component of a far more sinister and complex problem. Would any of you actually put forth the notion that if there were no Religion there would be no war? We do evil to each other based on every single possible way of dividing ourselves.
Saying God believers are fools, or using shaming, harassing, or humiliating language always makes me sad. Why? That is the language of Falwell. That is the language of Robertson. That is the language of the Imams and every other son of a bitch who thinks they are better than someone else for X, Y, or Z reason. It is exactly the same destructive force that has left us in ruin over and over again. Fundie atheists are no better than fundie religious types. My atheist father taught me this. The cycle continues.
I guess I'm the only person confident enough in my beliefs to not have to do that. Saying "I believe in God" has never hindered me in any way, and it never will, and there isn't an argument or any evidence to make it true. All anyone can do to me is a pathetic attempt to humiliate me, which only reveals the person as ignorant, hateful, and prejudiced.
There isn't anyone alive who can say with any matter of truth or authority God is real or not. That is a truly eye-rolling thing to consider. We shouldn't make the mistake of thinking we know more than we do - whether it is about God, about whether or not my wife is cheating on me, or whether the Yankees are going to win the World Series again. What are my lucky lottery numbers? You get the point. None of us will know for sure until we pass, and everyone would be a lot better of if it was left at that.
Anyway, that's about all I have to say on the topic of God, at least on estrip.
jenks - 01/27/06 22:49
jason-
1: yes i do think scientific advances have been made 'in the name of god', but i also agree with ej that, especially these days, some people try to use religion to suppress scientific advances (nb stem cell research).
2: i'm with ajay on the war part. Yes pride jealousy hate etc are at the root of lots of (most? all?) killing- but I think that, sadly, all of that is far too often 'in the name of god'- often making religion the 'real' culprit.
3: I totally agree with you that there's not enough goodness in the world and we need to work on that, individually and collectively, by whatever means possible. I think religion DOES make a lot of people "better people". When people actually take "love thy neighbor" to heart, it's a wonderful thing. But it can backfire when taken to the extreme- either extreme. I'm all for people bettering themselves, by ANY means, and if it's religion that does it for them- great! Unfortunately, it just isn't always that simple. Just being "a christian" does not automatically make you a "good person", (or "better" than a member of any other/no religion), just because you spout gospel at people.
jason-
1: yes i do think scientific advances have been made 'in the name of god', but i also agree with ej that, especially these days, some people try to use religion to suppress scientific advances (nb stem cell research).
2: i'm with ajay on the war part. Yes pride jealousy hate etc are at the root of lots of (most? all?) killing- but I think that, sadly, all of that is far too often 'in the name of god'- often making religion the 'real' culprit.
3: I totally agree with you that there's not enough goodness in the world and we need to work on that, individually and collectively, by whatever means possible. I think religion DOES make a lot of people "better people". When people actually take "love thy neighbor" to heart, it's a wonderful thing. But it can backfire when taken to the extreme- either extreme. I'm all for people bettering themselves, by ANY means, and if it's religion that does it for them- great! Unfortunately, it just isn't always that simple. Just being "a christian" does not automatically make you a "good person", (or "better" than a member of any other/no religion), just because you spout gospel at people.
jenks - 01/27/06 19:46
I started a comment, then realized I was writing way too much, so I turned it into a post.
I started a comment, then realized I was writing way too much, so I turned it into a post.
ejtower - 01/27/06 19:35
Hey Folks,
I am just leaving comment for you guys that I am glad your commenting, and I will respond to each of you individually. But I am going to hold off until everyone who is going to comment types their piece. So look for my post responce to everyone tommarow nightish.
Thanks,
~E.
Hey Folks,
I am just leaving comment for you guys that I am glad your commenting, and I will respond to each of you individually. But I am going to hold off until everyone who is going to comment types their piece. So look for my post responce to everyone tommarow nightish.
Thanks,
~E.
ajay - 01/27/06 19:21
(e:ejtower) has a point.
(e:jason), did the Church applaud Gallileo or persecute him?
True, all ancients had a concept of God. But did they make scientific progress because of "God" or inspite of?
As for killing each other: more people have been killed in the name of God than any other way. Are we forgetting the Crusades? The Muslim conquest of South Asia? Or your war du jour (even though only 1 side seems to be weilding "God" as a weapon overtly)?
(e:ejtower) has a point.
(e:jason), did the Church applaud Gallileo or persecute him?
True, all ancients had a concept of God. But did they make scientific progress because of "God" or inspite of?
As for killing each other: more people have been killed in the name of God than any other way. Are we forgetting the Crusades? The Muslim conquest of South Asia? Or your war du jour (even though only 1 side seems to be weilding "God" as a weapon overtly)?
metalpeter - 01/27/06 19:19
If you don't belive in god then that is fine. But I need to Correct you about a couple things. You are not talking about belief in a god, or many gods or any form of higher being. You are talking about cults and churchs. Jesus didn't belive in the church. The church Picked wich books where put in the bible and they used the bible to control people. Depending on who you belive (it can be reserched) there are religous books that the Church didn't put in the bible (they didn't Canonize them). I think what you are really talking about is group control. Take Bush for example He wants Stem Cell reserch to be illegal he says it is unetichal and so is cloneing. He is using his realigous beliefs to stop things that he dosn't belive in with political power. But what if he was an atheist then he might take away tax emept status from Churchs, Voting boths would be removed from churhs, states get taxes from bingo so they can't be in churchs.
I do belive but don't like the church kinda like BilL Maher and some else I worked with. You may want to look into budishism it is interesting and is more indivual.
If you don't belive in god then that is fine. But I need to Correct you about a couple things. You are not talking about belief in a god, or many gods or any form of higher being. You are talking about cults and churchs. Jesus didn't belive in the church. The church Picked wich books where put in the bible and they used the bible to control people. Depending on who you belive (it can be reserched) there are religous books that the Church didn't put in the bible (they didn't Canonize them). I think what you are really talking about is group control. Take Bush for example He wants Stem Cell reserch to be illegal he says it is unetichal and so is cloneing. He is using his realigous beliefs to stop things that he dosn't belive in with political power. But what if he was an atheist then he might take away tax emept status from Churchs, Voting boths would be removed from churhs, states get taxes from bingo so they can't be in churchs.
I do belive but don't like the church kinda like BilL Maher and some else I worked with. You may want to look into budishism it is interesting and is more indivual.
jason - 01/27/06 15:25
Just one comment for now.
Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, so many civilizations deveoped breakthroughs in every scientific discipline (not to mention numerous non-scientific disciplines) through the course of history - and all of these civilizations had some kind of concept of God. So your very first paragraph in no way jives with historical fact.
What DOES impede our progress as a race? Pride, jealousy, hate, discrimination, anger. These are the things that have led us to destroy each other (and priceless knowledge) over and over during the past 10,000 years, causing us to have to start from scratch repeatedly.
As a species, we ARE evil, we ARE wicked, and there are giant mountains of practical, perceivable, recorded evidence of this compared to tiny grains of sand-like evidence that shows how good we can be. Do you not see or hear with your own senses how true this is? Even more importantly, how do we correct this? Biological evolution? Technology? No, absolutely not, we have to look within - it does not matter if it is Christ, Buddha, secular humanism, whatever belief system - only unimpeded love, compassion for our race and our brothers across the globe, the unity and harmony of the human race will we break this horrible cycle.
Man must change before nations can.
Just one comment for now.
Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, so many civilizations deveoped breakthroughs in every scientific discipline (not to mention numerous non-scientific disciplines) through the course of history - and all of these civilizations had some kind of concept of God. So your very first paragraph in no way jives with historical fact.
What DOES impede our progress as a race? Pride, jealousy, hate, discrimination, anger. These are the things that have led us to destroy each other (and priceless knowledge) over and over during the past 10,000 years, causing us to have to start from scratch repeatedly.
As a species, we ARE evil, we ARE wicked, and there are giant mountains of practical, perceivable, recorded evidence of this compared to tiny grains of sand-like evidence that shows how good we can be. Do you not see or hear with your own senses how true this is? Even more importantly, how do we correct this? Biological evolution? Technology? No, absolutely not, we have to look within - it does not matter if it is Christ, Buddha, secular humanism, whatever belief system - only unimpeded love, compassion for our race and our brothers across the globe, the unity and harmony of the human race will we break this horrible cycle.
Man must change before nations can.
joshua - 01/27/06 13:14
Whatever floats your boat. I think that your views are valid, however your prejudice based on your own personal experience hinders you from seeing that faith does alot of GOOD for people out there. I completely and utterly disagree with your assumptions, but as long as you are happy I'm glad.
Whatever floats your boat. I think that your views are valid, however your prejudice based on your own personal experience hinders you from seeing that faith does alot of GOOD for people out there. I completely and utterly disagree with your assumptions, but as long as you are happy I'm glad.
Sorry to hear it.
WHat kind of dead?