God gives people a reason to live

He invites us to believe secularism will benefit societies.

Well it all would depend on what type of atheism gets control of society.

Let’s hope it’s not the type of atheism which Mao, Stalin and Pol Pot brought to their societies.

They murdered by the million all the while believing God was not watching and human life was dispensable and certainly not sacred.

Mr McClinton quoted an author who said: “Popular religion is a coping mechanism for the anxieties of a dysfunctional social and economic environment.”

Maybe his atheism is simply a coping mechanism in an affluent hedonistic social and economic environment in that case?

Maybe atheism itself is a comfort blanket for those who wish there will be no final judgement?

That may be a comfort to some. To think they can live how they want without repercussion.

It strikes me that the Humanist Association are attempting to conduct some conjuring trick with the statistics they treat us all to on a regular basis.

They simply seem to assume their position is correct and are very light on the evidence aspect.

This is strange from an association which prides itself on rational thinking.

Have they proven there is no God scientifically as yet? Hardly. It’s a faith position they adopt. No proof is provided.

If richer societies are more secular and poorer ones more religious could it maybe be that the wealthier we get the more arrogant we get in the face of the creator?

Could it be that the better the education we get the more pride we generate within thinking we know it all when we know in fact very little (and we certainly do not know there is no God)?

There are many reasons as to why societies flourish and turn away from God.

Brian McClinton obviously wants to paint the rosy picture of secularism that we can all buy into. “Become an atheist and society will flourish,” I can almost hear him preach.

Well here is a statistic Mr McClinton overlooked; according to a study published in The American Journal of Psychiatry (2004) religious affiliation is associated with significantly lower levels of suicide compared to religiously unaffiliated people, atheists and agnostics (‘Religious Affiliation and Suicide Attempt,’ December 2004).

It seems God gives people hope and a reason to live whereas humanism at bottom tells us that the universe and everything in it is a tale told by an idiot.

Mark Taggart LLB, Irvinestown