1. Brainwashed children plead to die as martyrs in Red Mosque siege

Comment #54814 by Religion Schmeligion on July 9, 2007 at 3:19 am

It seems odd to me that people term it as 'sacrificing themselves' to become martyrs. I fail to see where the 'sacrifice' part comes in. They are leaving the relatively awful earthly existence to go to paradise, where they spend eternity. Surely a 'sacrifice' would be to spend longer here, away from paradise?

2. God not out of the question for most Canadians

Comment #54232 by Religion Schmeligion on July 6, 2007 at 4:55 am

I think the key thing here is ignorance of the far-reaching explanations that science can offer. Lots of people who 'believe' I would imagine have very little grasp of much of science and therefore plug the gap with belief. Obviously, there are scientists who believe but on the whole, people are religious, and on the whole, people are fairly ignorant.
Religion gets in first too, as Dawkins points out, with indoctrination from birth. So, at the very time when our brains are sponges, they are saturated with belief systems, not science. Teach science early and well and we may see results.