1. Comment #64948 by drive1 on August 22, 2007 at 1:18 pm

Can you fix the link, please (remove the %3C/blockquote%3E at the end). Ta.

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2. Comment #64954 by scooternyc on August 22, 2007 at 1:31 pm

My support always for these requests; my post was the following:

Greetings,

I don't need to live by faith since I live by the foundations of compassion, responsibility and accountability toward mankind and seek the natural sciences for exploration, inspiration and awe.

I need no superstition, such as god is, which indulges in bigotry, racism and the denial of science, for such precepts do not live within except through the indoctrination of religion itself, which relegates reason to fantasy and logic to fanaticism.

"Faith is believing in something when COMMON SENSE tells you not to" - Maureen O'Hara, Miracle On 34th Street.

Cheers,
Greg Wirth
New York, NY

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3. Comment #64957 by Unknown on August 22, 2007 at 1:41 pm

People need to learn to read.

"Are you one of the millions of people who live by faith? Do you believe religion is under attack in modern society? Have the lines blurred too much or not enough between religion and politics?"

I think it says enough about the commenter reading skills.

Other Comments by Unknown

4. Comment #64959 by Deoradh on August 22, 2007 at 1:46 pm

Done, I posted the following

"Religion is not so much under attack. It's, when faced with reason, asked to prove itself by giving evidence it has nothing to fight with. Except sticking it's fingers in its ears and yelling "I believe"

Religion is used as a tool by cynical politicians who don't believe in god to get the gullible to vote for them. Statistically there has to be more than one atheist in Congress.

When you compare the beliefs of the religious with the facts, religion is small, pathetic, restricting. The more you learn about nature, science, history, art, philosophy, mythology and the cosmos, the more inspiring life is.

We are all made of Stardust, set your mind free"

Are the any more current surveys or polls out there. Larry King 71% on a roll

Other Comments by Deoradh

5. Comment #64962 by Alex Malecki on August 22, 2007 at 1:56 pm

I wrote:

Religion is certainly under attack in modern society, and this is fortunate for all humankind living now, and those who will live in the future. Science and reason are corrosive entities that wash away the human impulse to believe in the cosmic significance of our species. In reality, every being that has ever walked this planet has been but a chemical reaction inside a grain of salt in the vast cosmic ocean. How wonderful it is to have such a tool as science to deflate our ego inflated misconceptions.

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6. Comment #64963 by scooternyc on August 22, 2007 at 1:56 pm

Unknown, is your statement about the posts we've made or the manner in which the website at CNN posed the question?

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7. Comment #64965 by Blueboy5 on August 22, 2007 at 1:58 pm

I wrote:

People of faith have wrapped themselves in a safety blanket because they are afraid of reality. I feel sorry for anyone who's too afraid to face the truth. They have created elaborate myths and alternate realities where their faith is something good, all in an effort to make their cowardice honourable.

To paraphrase Christopher Hitchens, "the wall between church and state needs to be reinforced and built higher". A failure to do this and the United States is in real danger of becoming some kind of 'fear-based' theocracy rather than the democracy that 'faced any challenge' and defeated fascism and communism. I suppose if the majority of Americans are cowards and embrace faith and fear (something I seriously doubt), then they can wrap themselves in their superstitious ignorance but shouldn't be too surprised when they end up a foot note right along with Afghanistan and Iran as failed religious states.

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8. Comment #64967 by ClemIsMe on August 22, 2007 at 2:06 pm

I find no hope in faith. Just the opposite, really. I find faith allows people to make decisions based on something other than solid, hard earned evidence or rational consideration. I think this leads to negative consequences, as often as not, that many times could have been avoided if reason was valued more than lust and fear.

I am in the camp of Hitchens, Dawkins, Harris and Dennet. If this means I am attacking faith, then I am. Through conversation, however, and that's an important point. Should a time ever come that anyone in my country is threatened with punitive actions for their faith, I will be the first to shout, and will not hesitate to fight. My fellow Americans are guaranteed the right to faith even as I am guaranteed the right to a lack of faith. Attacking someone's intellectual position is perfectly acceptable and should be encouraged, but in the end our minds are our own. I will not stand beside any atheist - or theist - who would take that fundamental right away.

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9. Comment #64969 by RHMC on August 22, 2007 at 2:08 pm

I just posted: "Religion casts a dark shadow. Time to shed some light on bronze-age myth.

My world view does not contain supernaturalism nor mysticism."

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10. Comment #64977 by monoape on August 22, 2007 at 2:24 pm

I have faith that the bright light of science and rational thought will expose religion and superstitious belief for what they are: Bronze Age nonsense that has perpetuated ignorance and indoctrinated generation after generation of children with utter nonsense.

Religion and irrational belief is certainly under attack: almost three hundred years after The Age of Enlightenment, when the suffocating stupidity of religion was first pushed away, we now need to push again. The legions of the gods are killing each other all around the planet ... because their god is the 'One True God (tm)'. Religious leaders are condemning thousands to death because their god doesn't like condoms. Religious spokesmen tell us that devastating floods are caused not by (the overwhelming evidence for) global warming but by gays and 'sinful' people.

The wording of this 'ireport' on a major news carrier shows how the USA is in danger of slipping back in to the Dark Ages of unquestioning religious, superstitious ignorance.

May the gods, goblins and leprechauns save us all before it's too late.

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11. Comment #64980 by masrock2ndaccount on August 22, 2007 at 2:27 pm

my contribution:

I have no desire or need for faith in my life. Faith is just believing what someone else has told you without any evidence. Religion should be under attack from every quarter as it promotes closed mindedness and bigotry, fear and hatred. It holds back progress by clinging to ideas first thought up in the iron age by people ignorant of the world. Yes the line between religion and politics has blurred dreadfully in a way that alarms the world. Finally, I never worship anything, I prefer to use my brain to think for myself, discovery of knowledge is a far more useful use of my time.

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12. Comment #64982 by impious on August 22, 2007 at 2:35 pm

I think we should also write to CNN about how morality is innate in us and does not come from the so called holy books? In mainstream media, one of the most annoying and frustrating questions asked is "Where do the atheists get their morals from?", implying that one can not have morals without belief in a god.


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13. Comment #64983 by Rtambree on August 22, 2007 at 2:35 pm

Two words: Grow up

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14. Comment #64985 by cassdenata on August 22, 2007 at 3:03 pm

My contribution

I am one of the millions of people who doesn't live by faith. I am one of the millions of people that knows that there are some things I have control over to improve my life and those around me but other things are left to blind chance and are nobodies fault for not praying enough or being devout enough. I am one of those people who has acknowledged that since there is no afterlife, this beautiful existence is our only chance to truly savor this thing called life. I am one of the billions who has realized that dogma of any kind must be held up to the light of reason and that moral and lifestyle choices are our own to make, not handed down by a big brother in the sky. I am one of the billions of people who choose to be good to our fellow human beings, creatures and the earth on its own merits, without fear of hellfire and eternal damnation.

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15. Comment #64987 by nogodude on August 22, 2007 at 3:06 pm

Here's my post to CNN, just tryin to do my part.

"Are you one of the millions of people who live by faith?" Absolutely NOT! Religion/Faith is nothing more than myth, wishful thinking for those who have not taken the time to think for themselves. This planet will be much better off when people finally evolve out of this and religion is put on the shelf with all other myths and fanasy where it belongs. I never gave it a lot of thought until the Repubs and Bush took over. That was when I realised just how destructive a force power and religion can be. It is truly the most destructive force ever known. It's too bad that so many people have been indoctrinated/brainwashed into this BS from early childhood. That is really the only way to get people to believe in the absurd.
thanks,
No god here

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16. Comment #64988 by kylelw on August 22, 2007 at 3:06 pm

My post to CNN:

Religious faith is under attack, as it should be in a MODERN society. Religion is a left-over concept from humanity's infancy. A humanity that has outgrown its need for such unenlightened, superstitious stories about the nature of our world. We learn so many things about how our world works every day through science and reason, things that crush religion's mythological explanations for our world.

When it comes down to a head-to-head comparison of what will help humanity survive to see the next century, praying won't stop global climate change, science will. Praying hasn't and won't ever cure a single disease, but science has and will continue to. Burying our heads in the sand and praying to a mythological deity won't save us from the serious challenges this world faces, but the work of rational, thinking men will, as it always has. Religion and the religious are under attack in the modern world because they try to deny reality, to EVERYONE'S peril.

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17. Comment #64994 by sane1 on August 22, 2007 at 3:15 pm

My Post:

No, I do not live by faith, I do not live by magic, I do not live by the "Secret" , and I do not live by anything supernatural. I do live by reason and evidence, and what science can tell me about the world. Faith is corrosive, and anti-truth. The debiltating dynamics of belief start with the foolishness of religion, but do not end there.

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18. Comment #64996 by steveroot on August 22, 2007 at 3:19 pm

For what it's worth, I sent the following:

I am the grandson and nephew of two Presbyterian clergymen. I spent five years in a church choir and hung out with a church group all through high school. At no time in my life did I ever actually believe in any god or other supernatural entity, except Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy. At this stage in my life, I consider myself a firm non-believer, or atheist. The encroachment of religion on politics and other peoples' personal lives is something I find worrisome. The "wall of separation" seems somewhat threatened these days.
For the record, so you have some idea of what sort of person would believe these things:
I am a 57-year-old white male. I am married (25 years yesterday) with two well-adjusted, successful, considerate children. I possess a doctoral degree in dentistry with a specialty certificate. I am on the faculty of a public university. I am concerned for the welfare of other people and for the protection of the environment.

Steve

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19. Comment #64997 by 3ddm on August 22, 2007 at 3:20 pm

I don't often find the time to post anything, but this one got my hackles up, I posted the following.

Faith is simply non-thinking - I prefer to think. I prefer evidence over dogma and one would expect nothing less of a news agency. It is sad and a little pathetic that you should even feel the necessity to pose such questions. Why not try enlightening your viewers to the wonders of the real universe rather than pandering to their fears and primitive superstitions.
Religion belittles the human intellect and I reject it.

I feel a little better now :)

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20. Comment #65000 by sane1 on August 22, 2007 at 3:26 pm

Steve: Nice job!

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21. Comment #65001 by benjamin.mpls on August 22, 2007 at 3:27 pm

Here's what I wrote:

I am one of the millions of people who do not live by faith. I see faith as a bankrupt virtue used only to shield oneself from reality and honest criticism. If faith is the acceptance of metaphysical assertions with no basis in testable reality, then we could use a lot less faith in society.

Faith is not necessary to live a moral, selfless and fulfilling life. Faith is necessary to convince otherwise good people of evil things. If you can convince someone that it is a virtue to accept vague notions with no evidence to back it up, then you can convince them to believe the most foolish and wicked things. Religion: case and point.

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22. Comment #65006 by Bob Russell on August 22, 2007 at 3:56 pm

This is my I-report to CNN:

"I do not believe in ignorant, blind faith. I believe in reason, evidence and strive to do no harm to others. I do not believe in ghosts, goblins, gods, prime movers, spirits - holy or otherwise, creators, priests, nuns, preachers, imams any other such rubbish. I feel nothing but pity for the deluded faithful and only contempt for the charletans and necromancers who fleece them of their money and give them false hope."

Other Comments by Bob Russell

23. Comment #65008 by Christian Tellefsen on August 22, 2007 at 4:03 pm

I wrote the following:

I'm an atheist.

I have no faith, but I have beliefs. I believe that this is the only life I have, making it all so much more precious. There will be no rewards or punishments after I'm dead, no more time, and no making up for any wrongs I may have done. I can only try to make this one life a good life, and try to be good to other people I meet along the way.

I have no faith, but I have hope. I hope that the human race can discard the iron age superstitions of its intellectual and spiritual infancy and enter an age of reason and understanding. Perhaps people will see the beauty of life, of the world and of the cosmos as it really is. Maybe we will stop hating and killing and exterminating each other for believing in the wrong dogmas and myths.

I have no faith, there is nothing out there to have faith in, but there is more to understand and enjoy and live for than any one of us has time for.

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24. Comment #65011 by BAEOZ on August 22, 2007 at 4:07 pm

My 2 cents:

I do not live by faith. Faith is belief without evidence, and is thus dishonest. I do not have faith that a god punished all people for the mistake of one woman, and that he later incarnated himself so that he could feign death to take away the punishment he inflicted, so long as we surrender reason and freedom to this god. This is because there is no evidence to support this horror story. I do not have faith in any god for the same reason. When people of faith present evidence and reason instead of metaphysic and emotion, I may change that stance. Until then it is imperative that faith is kept in the private sphere, and that reason guide the ship of state. Sadly, faith is a treacherous master and many under its yoke are trying to force people who don't share their faith into following their faith driven morality and lifestyle. This is a grave danger for all lovers of freedom.

Meh, I can't write, but I think they get the idea.

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25. Comment #65015 by ksskidude on August 22, 2007 at 4:15 pm

My submission

I am an atheist, I have no faith at all. I do not believe in magic, fairies, fairy tales, elves, unicorn's, Zeus, Thor or Athena. I can not prove that any of these things or god's exist or don't exist, but I can make an educated guess.
Science and reason and logic have provided enough evidence for me to come to the conclusion that there is no god, just like there is no Santa Claus. If one does thier dudiligence and still decides to believe, so be it. Just please don't legislate it. There is no proof, thus the need for faith.

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26. Comment #65018 by akitagod on August 22, 2007 at 4:28 pm

Sure, why not? Here's mine:

I do not subscribe to any kind of faith based on superstition or spiritual plane. I think that the universe is a wholly natural environment, and that everything in it has a natural explanation and function. If religion is "under attack", I think it is only because the human species is entering a new era, where our understanding of the world, and our technological advances have caused us to view the universe from a new perspective. The current blurring of religion and politics, is in part, a fearful reaction by people who wish to keep faith in a position of power. On the other hand, its not much different now than it has been for centuries.

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27. Comment #65021 by Fire1974 on August 22, 2007 at 4:41 pm

This is the least we can do. I posted but sent it to quickly without saving it. You all don't need to read it anyway, 'they' do. I hope everyone here posts, even Darwin2 and Wee Flea and the like. Although, I doubt they'll have anything interesting to say to their own ilk.

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28. Comment #65023 by Yorker on August 22, 2007 at 4:48 pm

I too wrote a CNN comment but see no need to repeat it here.

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29. Comment #65028 by phil rimmer on August 22, 2007 at 5:01 pm

Maybe I just spoiled my ballot paper, I don't know.

I got this view of them churning through our responses saying, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Atheist. Atheist. Anabaptist. Christadelphian..."

So I wrote-

"Private Faith. Public cynicism. I am measured by my deeds not my beliefs. Public discourse, the workings of society, can proceed only on the common substrate of rational, cynical debate. Only this way are all included on an equal footing.

The details of my Faith should not be a matter for anyone but me. People (especially the media) lazily use a person's faith as a litmus test of their moral character. This is crass in the extreme. Keep out of it."

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30. Comment #65030 by cassdenata on August 22, 2007 at 5:07 pm

Oh crap. I just got a voicemail from CNN about my submission, only about an hour after I sent it in. I included a picture of me doing research in a wetland and described how I find the natural world so amazing, that religions don't even compare. I'm not sure I'm ready to come out to a wide-scale audience as an atheist.

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31. Comment #65031 by HappyPrimate on August 22, 2007 at 5:09 pm

Thanks for the link. Here is what I submitted.

No. I am not one of the faithful. I am one of the millions of U.S. citizens who rejects blind, unquestioning faith in supernatural entities. I am a non-theist. Born 55 years ago into a family of protestant faith, schooled in biblical stories, threatened by hell fire for years, I finally read the book from cover to cover and found it sorely wanting for any sort of belief or moral value. I have found in my study of the sciences of biology and astronomy all the elegance and awe I can handle. I adore being alive and I am not afraid of dying and returning to the universe as nothing more than atoms. I revere all life and appreciate my place as very fortunate evolved creature among many other types of evolved creatures. I am only fearful of the holy terror that Gods Warriors are reeking both politically and environmentally upon this our only place to exist in the solar system. Thomas Jefferson, without the benefit of Darwin, was able to foresee that this country would only survive and prosper if we separated out the faithful from the political. Richard Dawkins' book The God Delusion says it better than I can. So I ask - can we learn nothing from history? Let's please remove the scales from our eyes and see the REAL truth.

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32. Comment #65033 by sane1 on August 22, 2007 at 5:13 pm

cassdenata: Go for it. Do not be afraid. You'll fell better.

Other Comments by sane1

33. Comment #65034 by Veronique on August 22, 2007 at 5:15 pm

OK, I'll play

I don't know why CNN is posting this form. It merely encourages believers to prop up their superstitious belief systems by giving them increased airtime. On the other hand it allows those of us who consider religion to be a dangerous relic of historical ignorance of the nature of the universe to have our say. While ever religion holds sway in matters of state, there will be internecine strife as there has been for centuries. We all plead for a better world and then hijack that pleading with the abrogation of responsibility by praying to a sky-god to make things better. This is the way of madness.

So long as people enjoy a disease-free longevity with technological gadgets about them, thank science not a mythical being. We all have to grow up and look at our world as the most stunning place and to make the most of our lives, the only one we know. There is no wishfully thought afterlife that implies tedium beyond bearing. This is our life. The world is our 'heaven'. I can see it, feel it, wax lyrical about it, but I cannot be so arrogant as to believe that it was 'created' for us. Is religion under attack? I truly hope so.

Cheers
V

Other Comments by Veronique

34. Comment #65040 by USA_Limey on August 22, 2007 at 5:47 pm

My rather dry contribution:

Are you one of the millions of people who live by faith?

- No. Does this make my opinion worthless?

Do you believe religion is under attack in modern society?

- Define "under attack' please. If you mean being asked to prove its claims and justify its right to unquestioning 'respect'; well then yes and about time.

Have the lines blurred too much or not enough between religion and politics?

- Again, needs definition; but I believe a politicians' religion should be open to question. If they claim to believe in sky fairies I want to know about it.

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35. Comment #65043 by Rubino on August 22, 2007 at 5:54 pm

While I would never support curtailing the right to free thought and expression, I hope religious faith will wither and die. Rational gratitude for life and awe at the marvels of the universe can beat the pants off "worship" any day, and women, especially, should realize it. Do us a favor, ladies: read the scriptures cover to cover and notice the suspiciously male sensibilities of the world's bestselling god. Now imagine your husband came home from bowling to say, "God says you should be my sex slave, serve my sons' every whim, and supply me with bottomless beer on Superbowl Sunday." Be honest--would you fall prostrate in worship, or would you suspect your husband of making up the part about "God says"?

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36. Comment #65044 by maton100 on August 22, 2007 at 5:54 pm

I was hoping they would have a Likert Scale for faith insignificance. Yawn...

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37. Comment #65046 by benjamin.mpls on August 22, 2007 at 5:58 pm

Any idea when these responses will be aired?

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38. Comment #65048 by Converse02 on August 22, 2007 at 6:08 pm

My contribution. Atheists of the world, SPEAK OUT. The time is NOW.

I am a married 30 year old doctor. Human compassion and dignity matter much too me. I am also an atheist. I am one of the millions Americans who lives by evidence, not faith. One should not merely live off faith in a particular religion, but rather actively question, seek evidence, and analyzed religion, like they do all important things, critically.

Religion may appear as if it is "attacked" in modern society only in the sense people today are legitimately questioning its validity and are comparing a particular religion's moral system against other moral systems. Some faiths have morals that contradict accepted societal norms. In today's age of information, many are surprised to discover some of the "morals" of the more popular religions today espouse sexism, bigotry, and homophobia, which are destabilizing in modern societies. My morals come from a variety of sources, such as empathy, thinking, discourse, reasoning, and naturally preferring what promotes well-being and stability. It progresses and is the result of doing more than merely following what a book or religious leader tells me.

Religion is unfortunately playing a very large role in politics. The public should be outraged when politicians try to pass laws merely because of their faith, whether it be in Zeus, Odin, Buddha, Allah, Jesus, or vague undefined being they name "God." They should demand real reasons based on the facts, predicted outcomes, and science.

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39. Comment #65050 by cyberguy on August 22, 2007 at 6:20 pm

My submission was:

I am not just an atheist - I am an anti-theist. I believe that religion SHOULD be under attack in today's world.

That is because faith is no good at distinguishing fantasy from reality. Any conclusions based on faith are at best unsound, and at worst endanger human civilisation itself.

In these dangerous times hope lies in the abandonment of faith, and the advancement of evidence-based reasoning.

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40. Comment #65054 by Ohnhai on August 22, 2007 at 6:41 pm

I kinda got carried away.... had to email it instead :D

---------------------------------------------


According to the latest data there are also millions of Americans who do not live by faith (about 42 million, or about 14%) and that is based on figures gathered in 2001. In the intervening years there has been a major upswing in the number of people who are privately or publicly questioning religion and the inane and unwarranted taboos on questioning and examining religion. This number is bound to be higher today.

Its not so much that religion is under attack, but – finally – it is being put under the same level of scrutiny we demand for virtually every other facet of human life. Politics, Art, Spot, Life and Love. Religion is not comfortable with this, because for centuries the religions have actively and viciously suppressed any notion that their dogma is to be questioned at all.

As has been pointed out by many key writers in this field (Dawkins, Harris, Dennett, Hitchins) that the religions are currently squealing like a stuck pig, as if the gravest wound had been inflicted upon them, just witness the hysteria over the Dutch cartoons of Mohammed. Accusing all who write questioning their 'faith' as visiting the most vile, and demented attacks upon them.

Viewed dispassionately, if you look at what IS being written against the ideas of the various religions, then the terms and phrases are usually no worse, and frequently a lot milder, than those used to attack political belief or the opposing footy team. People describe this as 'harsh' because of the enforced and ingrained taboo on criticising religion, installed in society by centuries of brutal suppression at the hands of these 'loving' and 'compassionate' organisations.

The current indignation of religions has a lot more to do with an inflated outrage they feel in an increasing number of people daring to question, test, and examine religion. They have not had to deal with it on such a broad front before. What's worse is that this new wave of questioning is tooled up with the very best that modern science has to offer. Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Archaeology, to name but a few, all bring the power to test and examine the claims of the faithful, to tunnel down into the supposed truths of the bible and find them hollow and devoid of verifiable fact. On top of this they would find it hard to fall back in their old, tried and tested, methods of suppressing criticism.

It's different in the Muslim world. There the brutalisation and murder of apostates and digressers is still rampant. That murderous hysteria at the questioning, ridiculing or other digression from the 'path of the righteous', so clearly demonstrated by the brutal stoning of a young girl because she dared marry a fella from the 'wrong religion', was until comparatively recently, the reality of the western world. And it is what the most faith-full amongst the religious population of America would dearly love to drag us back to, kicking, screaming, and the unrepentant faith-less amongst us – burning.


Without ever – quite – going that far, America can still be an unpleasant place for those who profess not to have religion. Worse still for those who publicly admit that they do not believe the god/s exist. I find it amazing that such a large proportion of the populous (42 million) is derided and hated so vehemently. It is statistically likely that more then a few of the elected representatives and senators are lying about or feigning their religiosity. Picking up the crook of religion, simply to herd sheep to the polling stations.

Also, many many people hold on to the outer appearance of religion for simple social reasons, not actually believing any more, but because 'we have always gone to church'. That or they fear alienation from the community for turning away from the church when it's odds on there is a significant proportion of their neighbours in exactly the same position.

The Christian church in the USA is rotten. It is the very model of a once and proud support beam that has stood the test of time and never failed but, it is rotten. Poke the surface of the timber and it crumbles showing the extent of the damage. The whole edifice is structurally unsound and it knows it. THAT is why it doesn't want a new wave of scepticism. Why, now more than ever, doesn't want a resurgence in serious academic or popular study into the validity of it's beliefs, because it knows that this time it could be marginalised for good.

While Religious belief will never disappear, (The human animal is built in such a way that there will always be some leanings towards the spiritual) it needs to retreat to the realm of the private. It needs to understand that it has no place intruding into and attempting to impose it's beliefs and values onto an increasingly secular and increasingly non-religious society. People are free to believe what they want, they are not free to enforce those beliefs into the world of others.

Other Comments by Ohnhai

41. Comment #65055 by Russell Blackford on August 22, 2007 at 6:45 pm

My comment to CNN:

I believe that the current sceptical scrutiny of religion in the public sphere, exemplified by the work of Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Michel Onfray, and others who constitute the so-called "New Atheism", is absolutely necessary and desirable. It is not just that religious belief is false; more importantly, it stands as a barrier to any rational consensus on morality and justice, since it fossilises and valorises moral judgments from more barbaric times.

Ideally, we will be better off if religion withers away entirely or becomes a force of only marginal social influence. At the very least, we should hope to see it transformed into something unrecognisably different from what it has been, historically.

In any event, we are at a time in history when contesting religion's intellectual and moral authority has become an urgent need. Religion's political ambitions must be challenged, and the best way is to address the roots of the problem: despite all its pretensions, religion provides a false view of the world and the human situation. This means that we need popular, entertaining, robust critiques of religious belief and its dangers.

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42. Comment #65059 by torgosPizza on August 22, 2007 at 7:11 pm

cassdenata - do it for the rest of us! If my job sounded as interesting as yours I would be flattered that CNN wanted to know more, as much as I am still bothered by their mishandling of the atheist debates several months back.

I too have sent in an I-Report. Hopefully we can have an impact, no matter how great or small, on their "research."

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43. Comment #65062 by Scep on August 22, 2007 at 7:37 pm

How strong is your faith?

I have no faith or religion at all, just a desire to treat others the way I like to be treated.

Other Comments by Scep

44. Comment #65064 by steveroot on August 22, 2007 at 7:44 pm

20. Comment #65000 by sane1 on August 22, 2007 at 3:26 pm
Steve: Nice job!

Thanks! So many others have said things I wish I could have thought of. I am frequently impressed by the articulate, well-reasoned and often "ROFLMAO" humorous remarks. There is intellectual power here, and I learn a lot. As Peter Sellers put it in "Being There", "I like to watch".
Cheers!
Steve

Other Comments by steveroot

45. Comment #65066 by PeterK on August 22, 2007 at 7:54 pm

Ohnhai--Well written post!

Dutch cartoon? Yikes!!! No, Danish is not Dutch, any more than German is Italian.

Dutch=Netherlands
Danish=Denmark

You probably are unable to change the E-mail you sent to CNN, but before any parallels are made in this forum to Dubya's knowledge of the world....

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46. Comment #65067 by RobDinsmore on August 22, 2007 at 7:58 pm

I quickly typed out this response:


I am not at all faithful. At an early age I recognized that all cultures seemed to have religion and that those religions were always different form one another. This was the case up until they were saved by missionaries and the like and brought a civilized religion like Christianity. This did not teach me what it was intended to teach, namely that Christianity was the only true belief, but that religious beliefs were arbitrary, and the arrogance and bigotry associated with them could be out right evil.

I am of the opinion that religion is attacking modern society. This country was founded on the principle of separation of church and state yet we can divide the political landscape of the nation along lines of faith and come up with nearly the same result as red state/blue state.

The fact that this survey even exists is representative of the problem. Many religious people think that us free thinking scientists and people of similar mind sets are attacking them because we don't share their beliefs. It is sad and frightening that or society has degraded into such a state and I blame it on the attitudes that we were brought up with and are perpetuated in the media and government policy. The attitude of which I speak is of course that religious views are somehow sacred and should be respected above all other considerations. The idea that people should be allowed to believe in whatever they want to believe in is admirable and I am not against that, but the idea that those beliefs should entitle a person to indoctrinate their child, or any child for that matter, is ludicrous. Children need to be protected from the abuse they will receive as a part of being brought up in a fundamentalist family and they will end up being just as paranoid as the people whose responses this survey was created in order to solicit.

As an atheist and an American I demand that people like myself be represented in positive light in the media. As it is now we are vilified most of the people with any religious inclinations and the only way that will ever change is if public awareness is increased allowing people to see for themselves that we are not all angry heathens.

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47. Comment #65068 by Zaphod on August 22, 2007 at 7:59 pm

Faith is the get-out-of-jail-free-card that certain people give themselves so they can believe the ridiculous.

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48. Comment #65070 by Philster61 on August 22, 2007 at 8:14 pm

Hey, Did anybody get to watch the CNN spcial with Christianne Amanpour "Gods Warriors"? It gives an account of each of the 3 main world religions and their hatred towards each other and their extreme fundamentalist approach. If ever there was a need for declaring religion a crime against humanity,then this CNN special pretty much makes the case.
Religion does more harm against humanity than Mssrs Hitchens,Dawkins or Harris can ever possibly describe.I would suggest to commentors here to watch tomorrows episode when CNN will be broadcasting the Muslim edition.

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49. Comment #65073 by Dean Peterson on August 22, 2007 at 8:43 pm

Faith is the terrible companion of belief. Both should be relegated to the trash bin of ancient failed human attempts to cope with and comprehend the world we live in. It's nearly incomprehensible that we are still living, and dying, under the ghastly shadow of religion. I'd say shame on most of us for walking the path of irrational ignorance; and shame on the rest of us for not saying so louder and sooner.

Methodological rationalism spoken here!

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50. Comment #65074 by Scep on August 22, 2007 at 8:45 pm

About God's Warriors.

What a disgraceful exhibition of Jewish "solidarity" "God's Warriors" showed last night. No doubt the Muslims will do the same tonight, followed by the Christens on Thursday.

I am so grateful to be born with a reason-based mind, able to accept agnosticism at an early age so I never had to look for excuses and explanations for all these religious nutcases all over the world. But there is a good chance I would be an atheist by now anyway, as long I was born with any brain at all!

The intellectual violence one must do to themselves in order to have faith in unreason, is gross.

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