powerclown

For me, believing in god was never a matter of mind control or whatnot. I didn't come from an overly religious family, and religion was only ever observed in a friendly and social way, consisting of family getogethers, dinners, games, stories, watching tv, gossiping, farting, wrestling, shooting hoops, swimming, etc. We would say prayers and lightly observe the customs of the holidays of our religion (more for ceremony that anything else), but the actual messages of the bible were always far, far secondary to simply being together as a family.

It's obvious that much suffering has been carried out in the name of religion, but many times the reasons, to my mind, can just as well be pathological as religious, religion acting merely as a catalyst for aggression. In other words, people naturally have more aggressive tendencies than intellectual ones. Religion has been the match lighting the tinder, but it isn't the actual fire. Understanding this, for me, has cast religion in a different light than how it is used in certain social, religious and political contexts for example.

Another catch for me lies in the fact that we as humans think we are capable of comprehending god, as if he/she/it were to walk past us on the sidewalk. Just because visible light waves are the only electromagnetic waves we can see, doesn't mean they are the only lightwaves in existence. Same with frequency and sound waves.

I'm not saying that how you feel is wrong, but I would question the absolute objectivity of some of the things you posted in this thread. I would also take issue with Richard Dawkins characterization of faith as 'a process of non-thinking'. I've never been one to interpret the bible literally.