Here’s a helpful guide to avoid more embarrassment
A lot of Humanists i have met would describe themselves as agnostic. I think this is a "denying the possibility i could be wrong would put me in the same bracket as doorstep evangalists" stance.
Dawkins (and Hitchens for that matter) can be a little dull and preachy but surely that's inevitable if someone choses to stand against institutionalised religeon? Regardless in the boring stakes i suspect a lot of christians would be scoring highly.
Speaking of cults, tomorrow is the 40th anniversary of the Jonestown Massacre
A quick chorus of my favourite religious song
There's a mannie in the sky
There's a ma-han-ey in the sky.
As others have stated, it's an interesting post from Ragnarok, and finishes off with a good counterpoint to Stephen Frei 's emotion based argument about an inhumane God.
I've also wondered about the relevance of Islam in the modern world but there's no denying that it's managed to retain the adherents under its spell in greater numbers than possibly any other today.
Are all religions based on an assumption that if you're good and benevolent in this world, then you'll be well looked after in the next, but if you're bad or don't practice your religion, then hell mend you?