<p>"it is MY opinion that religion's purpose is to give man a point in life"</p>
<p>Err, that's one of its purposes. Also, to control the plebeians. That doesn't make it a byproduct of evolution. It is not instinct. It is taught, and it kind of seems like you're twisting something Dawkins noted: it probably helped ancient people survive, and that's one of the reasons it was passed on. Passed on. Religion is taught, not instinct.</p>
<p>"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."</p>
<p>So the sex urge is really just dictated by religion? Do atheists have no sex urges? Well religion and the bible can help people morally. But it's cherry-picking. I can find peaceful verses, as well as bellicose verses in scripture. I could just as easily choose the bellicose verses and be absolutely morally compromised. It's societal standards that set the moral standards (there are, of course, deviations, however; e.g., murderers and other criminals).</p>
<p>"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>Yeah, if you really need incentive out of a book or from some God to live on. Life is life, nothing more. You can make out of it what you want. Having fun, enjoying yourself, etc. are the "purposes" of life that I see.</p>
<p>A "duck and cover drill" is commonly used terminology used to refer to drills practiced as precautions in the case of a nuclear attack.</p>
<p>"(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>
<p>Wikipedia about Sam Harris:</p>
<p>"He notes that 44 per cent of Americans, according to polls, believe that Jesus will probably return within the next fifty years."
"He points out that, by the light of biblical prophecy, general Armageddon is regarded as a necessary precursor to the Second Coming, or the Rapture as some call it. Harris considers it no exaggeration to say that a significant proportion of the American population would see a nuclear conflagration in the Middle East, say, as a happy portent of the imminent arrival of Jesus."</p>
<p>only 14% of adults in this country accept evolution as being definitely true - National Geographic Article: <a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/08/060810-evolution.html%5B/url%5D">http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/08/060810-evolution.html</a></p>
<p>Half of the country thinks the world is less than ten thousand years old - Sam Harris said it in the Beyond Belief conference.</p>
<p>So you believe there's no God, yet no atheists? Doesn't that make you an atheist? I am an atheist, I am not superstitious in the least. Forget Dawkins. I exist. Or do you think I'm a liar when I say I have no superstition? Lolz.</p>