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Perils of Life

Many of our religious friends have difficulties facing the perils of life.  Bertrand Russell taught us about this situation.

"There is something feeble and a little contemptible about a man who cannot face the perils of life without the help of comfortable myths. Almost inevitably some part of him is aware that they are myths and that he believes them only because they are comforting. But he dare not face this thought! Moreover, since he is aware, however dimly, that his opinions are not rational, he becomes furious when they are disputed."

Promoting Understanding of Religious Suffering

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complete absence of any supporting data whatsoever

"I've sworn off agnosticism, which I now call cowardly atheism. I've come to the position that in the complete absence of any supporting data whatsoever for the persistence of the individual in some spiritual form, it is necessary to operate under the provisional conclusion that there is no afterlife and then be ready to amend that if I find out otherwise." James Francis Cameron , interview with the Hollywood Reporter (March 23, 2010) Cameron directed two of the highest grossing films of all time: "Titanic" (1997) and "Avatar" (2009). Cameron has also written and directed several other blockbuster movies, including "The Terminator" (1984), "Aliens" (1986), "The Abyss"(1989), "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" (1991) and "True Lies" (1994). Promoting Understanding of Religious Suffering

impulse toward revolt

“Man enjoys the great advantage of having a God endorse the codes he writes; and since man exercises a sovereign authority over woman, it is especially fortunate that this authority has been vested in him by the Supreme Being. For the Jews, Mohammedans, and the Christians, among others, man is master by divine right; the fear of God, therefore, will repress any impulse toward revolt in the downtrodden female.” Simone de Beauvoir, "Situation and Character," "The Second Sex" (1949, translated and edited by H.M. Parshley, 1953) Promoting Understanding of Religious Suffering

don't care enough about religion to call themselves atheists

“As you learn more and more about the universe, you find you can understand more and more without any reference to supernatural intervention, so you lose interest in that possibility. Most scientists I know don't care enough about religion even to call themselves atheists. And that, I think, is one of the great things about science — that it has made it possible for people not to be religious”  Steven Weinberg (quoted in Natalie Angier, “Confessions of a Lonely Atheist," The New York Times, Jan. 14, 2001) Promoting Understanding of Religious Suffering