I don't deny this. That's what I mean about things going bad. It's not just having religions that brings the blessing.
Usual religious response: retreat to an unfalsifiable claim.
Those countries Pete found in the study that are more religious have problems, ergo you assume they must not be doing something right or things would be going better for them. How do you know that? Why because things are bad for them! QED.
That's circular.
It's trusting in the God of the Bible. The more we turn our backs on Him the more we will see the decline of our nation. You know One Nation Under God andIn God We Trust being removed from our culture.
Why does your money have to have God's name all over it? Does it make all purchases holy and rendered unto God?
Do you think God is sitting up in heaven thinking, "well, there's $3.4 trillion worth of currency going around on this continent, but only $1.2 billion has MY HOLY NAME on it...I better start to smitin'!"
This lust to have the name of your God on everything you deal with, be it money or state symbols, just smacks of superstition.
It's a child-like throwback. We have to keep reminding God we love him as a nation. So we have to plaster his holy name on everything! Hey, you! You don't have God's Holy name on your CAR! Better fix that. He's watching, you know.
It's silliness.
And what about those of us who are athiests? Why do
we have to have God on currency? It presumably costs just a wee bit extra to have the words carved in the intaglio presses that make our money. I don't want to pay for
your superstitions.
I don't want to have my tax dollars support
christians' hilltop crosses. I don't want
my taxdollars to go to anything that will make the HINDUS, JEWS or MUSLIMS in our country feel like OUTSIDERS.
I'm not saying you can't take a big ol' marker and write God's name all over everything you have, and I'm not saying you can't take some housepaint and paint just a ton of crosses on YOUR car with YOUR MONEY, YOUR TIME, YOUR EFFORT, but I don't want to support that.
Oh yeah, and since we're talking science, I don't want your superstition and myths plastered into the science texts. The texts used to teach the next generation about science. I will have to rely on them being
good scientists, not
good ministers.
On the flipside:
I've got a few unsupported beliefs of my own that you wouldn't agree with, are you willing to pony up some of your cash to support those? Because right now I'm paying for those all by myself.