Comment 17 by Schrodinger's Cat :

Yes, yes....but as always a fundamental point is missed. Something along the lines of Dostoevsky's comment that if one reduced the world to just maths and geometry...people would go mad on purpose to avoid facing it.

Well, even atheists have feelings you know? The world is more than just about maths and geometry. We understand the idea of being human. With being human comes all that is both good and bad about our being animals at heart.

What all of the diatribes against religion fail to do is provide something that the religions do at least provide......a sense of meaning and purpose. OK so religion is a load of baloney.....but what are you replacing it with ?

Why does religion need replacing? In what way does it provide meaning and purpose? I live because I love life. What more is there to understand? I make my own meaning. Why is that so bad?

So you want people to stop believing in their sky fairy and believe what ? That their lives are meaningless and accidental in a totally indifferent universe that could not give a damn ? It's not hard to see why that doesn't have quite the same appeal as the sky fairy.

Whether they like the facts it is irrelevant, they are the facts.

We want is for them to think rationally and stop using their sky fairy and ancient books as a means and justification for fruitless ideas that harm others. Is that such a bad thing?

You'll never abolish religion. The best you can ever hope for is to hone it all into something harmless that leaves out all the 'death to infidels' crap.

I won't be the last to say this but if all religions turned into something harmless there wouldn't be any complaints from atheists. I don't care what grown adults want to believe and do with their spare time as long as it doesn't harm others.

Hopefully that all makes sense to you?