The places with the lowest participation rate in religion and belief like New Zealand and many Scandinavian counties also have much less crime than the US.

97% of scientists believe in evolution (including categories like mechanical engineer).  The category of scientist presumably has  larger than average percentage of smart people....compared to most professions.  They are far  less likely to believe in god than the rest of the public.   I doubt they are all secret closet criminals.

There are numerous studies that link higher intelligence with lower belief.....copy these words and paste them in your google bar.

Intelligent people are more likely to question things that don't make sense and seek answers to difficult questions.  Hence, they see the inanity in our religious beliefs as well as the likely path to their evolution.  They also see the reality of our existence in terms of our Universe's and our biological origins.  If divine intervention occurred at any point, it has yet to be evident.  It remains possible, but the likelihood your childhood stories about religion are correct stand at 0.00%.  Just my opinion.

I imagine people like Krauss and Dawkins look at people like DC, Curm, Freebird, etc etc  much like a scientist looks at his lab rats, or the kids look at the baboons at the zoo. "Oh look Lawrence, there is one of them in a WalMart parking lot, hand me the binoculars.  I understand American polls suggest 47% of these people believe Jesus is returning in their life and a full 13% of them believe the antichrist is currently alive as president Obama....."   That they lost to cretins like us has to be a huge embarrassment for all eternity to Britain....but they could use some understanding of dentistry as well...among other issues (pronounced is-use).
I guess that is my answer.  While many smart people are theists, more smarter (pun intended) people are by and large atheists or at least question all those mountains of horseshit in everyone's special religious books from the Mormons to the Christians to the Muslims.

Another thing that both Krauss and Dawkins spoke about that was interesting is the "why are we here" question that is an origin of religion evolutionarily and very much ingrained in our species. That question, while ingrained into our evolution, it a very silly question.  In a Universe that came from nothing, in the darkness of space in areas of no matter, where things pop in and out of existence continually and "nothing" turns out to be far more interesting than we thought.  "Why we humans are here" is a very silly question.   Live well.   "How are we here" is the question.  How did this happen, how did these things evolve?   When God is the answer then you have stopped to seek.  What was once plausible has been proven possible so many times.  Plate tectonics was at first plausible before fact, evolution was plausible to Darwin long before it became fact, the earth revolving about the sun was plausible to galileo, life from matter in a universe from nothing is also quite plausible and frankly, approaching facthood.   Not that the Universe from nothing theory precludes the multiverse theory.

If we ultimately find "god," it aint gonna be the god of the bible with any of the hoakster "prophets" at his side.

Atheism is not the same as religion.  Religion is crap, makes no sense, and is an intellectual dead end.  Belief in a higher power is not so, it allows continued questioning of the "how" of our existence and doesn't settle on an answer written by stupid people a few thousand years ago.

Unfortunately I know only too well that domestic abuse knows no social or economic boundaries.  There once was a man who was well educated, a highly decorated WWII pilot and senior Air Corps officer, then an American Military representative on the United Nation team that administered the Free Territory of Trieste from 1947 until 1954.  And ultimately became the President and CEO of a multi-million dollar international business.  He was also a respected community leader and a seemingly devout communing member of the Catholic Church.  Yet behind the facade was a far more sinister individual who consistently subjected his wife and his children to the worst kinds of physical and verbal abuse.   So, no it is not just the poor, or the uneducated, or members a given race or social class, much less of a certain religion or political party who are guilty of abuse. And consequently when I read about this case, the fact that the man is either a Republican or Democrat does not enter my mind.  That is irrelevant. What is relevant is the fact that we have yet another case of physical domestic abuse perpetrated by a successful professional individual.  And until we come to terms with how to identify and adequately deal with the problem, domestic abuse, be it physical, sexual, or verbal will continue to plague society.

Savages...killing people sent to help them.  And, Obama is sending our troops to help these people?

Eight dead in attack on Ebola team in Guinea. ‘Killed in cold blood.’

The bodies of eight people, including several health workers and three journalists, have been found days after they were attacked while distributing information about Ebola in a Guinean village near the city of Nzerekore, according to Reuters.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/18/us-health-ebbola-guinea-idUSKBN0HD2JE20140918

"The eight bodies were found in the village latrine," Albert Damantang Camara, a spokesman for Guinea's government, told Reuters on Thursday. "Three of them had their throats slit."

When the delegation arrived on Tuesday to do disinfection work and educate people about preventing Ebola, angry and fearful residents began throwing rocks and beating people in the group with clubs according to the Los Angeles Times, which cited Guinean radio reports. The delegation, which included one local politician, fled into the bush to escape the attackers.
http://www.latimes.com/world/africa/la-fg-attack-ebola-guinea-outreach-20140918-story.html
One journalist who managed to escape told reporters that she could hear the people looking for her while she hid, according to the BBC.

On Thursday, the bodies were found in the septic tank of a primary school in the village, according to Camara. They had been "killed in cold blood by the villagers," he added, according to the BBC.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-29256443

Throughout this epidemic, public health officials have battled widespread fear and even doubts that the virus exists at all. The deadly attack illustrates the danger that health workers face as they try to spread information about the virus in an effort to control the deadliest Ebola outbreak in history.

 http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2014/09/18/missing-health-workers-in-guinea-were-educating-villagers-about-ebola-when-they-were-attacked/

We are seeing studies that show that marijuana causes schizophrenia, lowers IQ by up to 8 points, and causes lung cancer.

You see, people fight for the right to smoke marijuana weekly, not once a month or once a year. And weekly is enough to cause schizophrenia, lower IQ, and lead to lung cancer.

As a foreigner (American), I'm glad to hear they're staying.  I think they will have more influence on the world stage this way and the world desperately needs their common sense.

If so why is Obummer arming Syrian rebels? This is basically a direct act of war and obvious terrorism.

I think Down's syndrome is a special case because many can live worthwhile lives and give pleasure to those around them. Of course they do require some additional support and if the parents, who are often older than the average because of the way Down's is generated, may become ill or even die before their Down's offspring - who are now living longer than the three or four decades that they used to. But society is prepared to support people who are fit and healthy but unemployable for whatever reason.

First of all, the story says "refugees from Islamic countries". Not all of them are actually Islamic. One of the reasons that these refugees exist is because they are of a minority  religion and have been pushed out.  Second, if you really think that the US government is going to simply bring boatloads of unscreened Muslims from the middle east and Africa, you really are a fool. Of course they're going to screen them. They'll be investigated, they'll be interviewed. Now a question - why did you bold the word "White"?  I mean, you provided the accent you were looking for with all caps for "OUR WHITE HOUSE", so why the bold on the one words? What are you saying?

I love you and I give you free will...but if you don’t worship me I will burn you for eternity.   And by the way, don’t expect any favors from worshiping me.  I will still kill your kids in a car accident and cause you to lose your job, and then your house will blow away in a hurricane.  But I love you and I am always here for you watching over you every moment.

Lewis Black has a term for this...."stone cold fucking nuts"

I kinda wonder if Dicebitco was a competition to stunna would he have shut down?  Right now there will be a void to fill and someonce can steal the spotlight and take the glory but thanks to dicebitco it wont be easily attained.  

op you have spammers in ur campaign, are you checking quality of posts?

I see alot of one worded posts on your account, maybe we should go to your sig campaign and post false accusations against ur campaign?

17 correct, 2 wrong.  I have to say I guessed correctly on about 4. At least 2 were process of elimination.  If Saudi is the most powerful Sunni nation, then Syria had to be the most powerful Shiite nation.     So I did well, but admittedly not because I knew it all so well.

2. You got on a bus, and that's what people just need to do. You didn't shovel salt soooo why are these women staying around to get raped? Take a bus to a respectable place where they have respectable jobs and dress respectably and rape doesn't happen unless you really ask for it.
Problem solved.

1. I don't think he meant he himself was on heroine and waiting tables. More like a play on the service comparison and how age and vulnerability and drugs should be considered when making stupid, stereotypical entitled male judgements.

I watched the Unbelievers last night with Theoretical Physicist Lawrence Krauss, Steven Hawking, Richard Dawkins and others.  At the beginning and end they interviewed celebrities...I have no idea why, but Ricky Gervais was funny." Someone tells me that everyone is entitled to their religious beliefs so just keep your atheism to yourself" that sort of says it all doesn't it?  RG.

 I need to read Lawrence Krauss Book the Universe from Nothing.  I saw him on Colbert and of course Colbert was brilliant and asked him if God was nothing, couldn't something come from him?

In any event, Krauss explained better than I was capable in this thread as what is fulfilling to an atheist.  A celebration of not being dead mentally.  A celebration of a universe much grander than the petty one described in our religion that we arrogantly believe was created just for us.  Celebrate the existence of these complicated brains that allowed us to contemplate the existence of this place that made us,  It is far more wondrous than any religion.....to us.   This is why it cannot be grasped or explained to someone who has a priori decided to turn off their brain and put a halt to any further investigation in that arena.  They started with answers.....why go any further.  To us, that is akin to being dead and far more full of hopelessness.

In any event, Dawkins said he doesn't think nearly as many people believe as claim to believe.  He made a few good points.  Ask someone if they believe when the priest says "body of Christ", that it turns into the body of Christ?  Of course that can be argued as a symbol, but why do so many more people sob uncontrollably at funerals then when they say goodbye to their kids who they go off to college or to live abroad for instance.  If you truly believe you will be together again, what is the difference really?  Why the need to sob uncontrollably at a funeral if you believe that a) they are in a better place and b) you will see them again in this better place?   What the hell are you all crying about if you really believe?

Dawkins was also asked what the future of atheism is and he said he hopes it dies. "We don't call ourselves Ahorists or Azeusists any longer, why should we continue to call ourselves A-theists as we become enlightened?

The other interesting point Dawkins brought forward is that the common misperception that new species come out of old.  They don't.  Every species ever born was the genetic offspring of its parents.  Its the imperceptible change over time ......when applied to 3.5 billion years.  So there is no "first man"   There can be no first man.  So religion teaches us Jesus died for the original sin of first man who we now know never existed.  Brilliant.  God gave man free will but will send him to hell for using it.  Don't question it. He works in mysterious ways.  Ricky Gervais also asked what is the difference between a god that allows all the horrible things to occur (works in mysterious ways) and no god at all?  None of course because he aint there.

One funny but not so funny point Krauss makes in his book is that while the Universe can make something out of nothing, religion can make nothing out of something.  It happened in the 1100s in Islam, the then center of art, music, mathematics and culture and the islamic relgious fundamentalists turned it into nothing.  Likewise the enlightenment of europe was turned into the dark ages.  It can happen again as other threads portend.

It was an interesting enough documentary with excerpts from Hawking and others.  Some of it was crap but I would love to sit down with those guys.

The Dems were always critical of Bush and his "war on terror" because you can't bomb a tactic, which makes said war perpetual. Obama effectively declared war on ISIL which is pretty substantially different. That's not to say there won't be an enemy to fight when ISIL is gone, of course.