<p>Oh, I just get so giddy when Spider Man addresses me personally :).
Thank you; you are too kind.
I said a “significant” amount of them do. When I use the word “significant,” it’s intentional. I didn’t imply “most” or even “a large number,” just enough to be significant. It was my mistake for saying “do,” because I meant that they would proclaim to actively read the bible, whatever that means to them (one page per day? passage per day? per week?).
Why defend myself when I didn’t even make the original statement?
Really? You think I’m fat? 
Anyway, anti-homosexual sentiment and general sexual conservatism are both big restrictions on my happiness. You are right that the American culture has adopted both and that prejudice exists outside of religion, but there is no legitimate justification for it outside of religion, which is what’s important. As of now, and feel free to dispute this, I believe it is solely the fault of religion that gay marriage is still outlawed in most of the United States. I could relate religion to several problems, but I would want to write proofs for them that are longer than most people care to read in this thread.
This is not a concern of mine. Why is it of any significance that they are WASPs?
The only person I LOVE to argue with is you, cutie :). I’m more than willing to back up my logic on any arguments I make, so I don’t understand where you’re coming from.
Loltroll. I pity you if you thought that was well-reasoned. It wasn’t even worth rebutting. The unspoken assumption you made was that people who kill in the name of religion are natural killers who would find any reason to kill even as atheists. It’s completely unfounded and illogical.
I’m sorry you have such a big ego?
There are rational and irrational fears. Being afraid of ladders is rational, of homosexuality, irrational. People are uncomfortable around gays because they have a conditioned aversion to them, plain and simple. The conditioning is a cultural phenomenon that would be much easier to combat without religion perpetuating it.
I really don’t understand what you’re trying to prove… I take the argument that religion increases happiness more serious than any other because it is legitimate and true. It’s the biggest obstacle when trying to convince people that the world would be better off without religion. For this reason, it needs to be analyzed from an objective, atheist perspective so I can construct an example of how the same (or better) increase in happiness can be achieved in religion’s absence.
I can speculate just the same as you, but a thorough, scientific analysis would be much more helpful.
Right… Okay, buddy :). I visited almost every source that Christians have linked to in this thread just to confirm that they truly did not disprove my arguments. If I inappropriately dismissed their arguments, it was probably because I had seen them many times before. In that respect, I supposed I am selfish. I crave stimulating arguments that challenge me and give me a chance to add a new rebuttal to my arsenal. Obviously, my ultimate goal isn’t to convince the people in this thread of anything. I’m here to better refine my arguments to present them in the most convincing manner possible to my audience in the future.
You’re just too much fun, buddy.</p>