<p>Look, this is beginning to feel like I'm banging my head against a wall. There are so many things I want to say, but let me get back to the originial point. My point is that religion is atavistic and it is MY opinion that religion's purpose is to give man a point in life. It's a byproduct of evolution. For instance, a staircase allows people to go from one floor to another. But what about the space under the stair? It serves absolutely no purpose. Sometimes people make a closet out of it, sometimes it just sits there. The closet is a byproduct of the staircase. Like religion. Religion gives individuals an edge in natural selection, it allows them to keep working hard because they know there will be a reward in the afterlife (all religions dictate this), it gave man a reason to be moral and often, religion encourages procreation and family. If the world is really divided between an organic, scientific explanation of life and a religious one, that might make atheism counterproductive to survival, if you will. Let me explain. If a person were really to be atheist, what would be the point of living? If you say because life itself is the purpose of existence, then you are still prescribing to an ideology beyond reason. </p>
<p>OK, OK, I admit I am "confused and unsure" about religion. But who isn't? </p>
<p>"kind of a school do you go to that you have duck and cover drills?"
HUH? A school where there might be earthquakes, idiot! lol...geez! Doyou know what a duck and cover drill is?</p>
<p>"Clearly, you're the superstitious one, and it seems like you just can't fathom how somebody couldn't be."
OK...Watch out I might cast a spell on you :p</p>
<p>So you think God isn't like a Magic Box? Hmmm</p>
<p>-"Are you aware how irreligious much of the rest of the Western world is?..You don't find the sheer number fundamentalist religious people in this country amazing"
Huh? I think you're beginning to confuse yourself...</p>
<p>PS- Your "statistics" are ...interesting...
(You cited a few names, those are "statistics?" Please make some citations or links before I can seriously consider what you're saying, because it sounds a little like BSing to me! lol...)</p>