“I see very clearly the difference between the behavior of those of faith and those without. And I don’t like what I see in the latter.”
You are talking about yourself there, and many great people who have served humanity through the ages.
Now, certainly the world has problems. You may be correct that there is some connection between the world’s greatest problems and the decline in faith and religious devotion. However, let’s not jump to conclusions about what the connection may be, if in fact there even is one.
It could be that there is merely a correlation here. Perhaps a decline in religious faith is correlated to irresponsible behavior, because there aren’t enough secular institutions in place to clean up the mess left in the wake of the failures of religious organizations.
It is quite possible that a lot of the irresponsibility in the world today is not the result of a lack of religion, but the result of a lack of education and clear thinking.
Of course you can’t just take away religion and expect the world to be a better place. We still need to educate our children and encourage a responsible and rational approach to humanity. That’s not gonna happen without some work.
Rather than debate point by point, which is beginning to create some rather lengthy posts, let me just say that I think your attacks on religion are misplaced, if you are conservative. Conservatism and religion are allies against liberalism, secular or otherwise. They compliment one another. I’ve lived 57 years without once being threatened or oppressed or otherwise cheated by religion in this country. Liberals do it every day. When I look at the cess pools that are the coastal liberal enclaves and compare them with what they call, with disdain, “fly-over country”, I see clearly where the high standards and solid knowledge of right from wrong reside. I see good people being trashed by liberal scum, and most of those good people, to some degree or another, are of faith. They don’t attack atheists. Atheists attack them, and for what? Why ally yourself with folks who guarantee chaos at best? You’ll find you have no enemies among the faithful, only lively debate. If you’re conservative, in their company you’re among friends.
I leave you to your thoughts, friend.