I've learned long ago that most people need the safetynet of religion just to get by. They can't handle the reality of life as it is, so they have to believe in supernatural things which give them comfort in bad times.
It's well documented that the more primitive a society gets, the more gods it starts to have. Those tribemen in the Amazon believe every other tree is a God, not even mentioning the forest animals..
It's inherent to a humans nature to explain the things thier brain can't grasp with divine intervention. Scientits like Einstein are no objection from that fact.
In fact, at times when he lived, people were given a very strict christian upbringing which included regular church trips and brainwashing. Church in earlier ages was often the most massive, even little scary building where people heard stories thier virgin conciousness never heard before. All this done with the echoing strong voice of the priest covered with mystical paintings.. Like going to the movies.
How many of you people would ever find out there's a God, Jesus or whatever unless you learned these facts from the birth? Your parents, grandparents and sometimes even church usually make damn sure the baby will be stuffed with 'ideas' way before it has any possible means to analyse and grasp the things it's been told.
I was lucky enough to have parents who didn't stuff thier religious aspects on me, so when I went to visit my grandparents who were believing and religious people, it came as a strong contrast to home. This enabled me to question and suspect the things I was told and in the end form my own opinnion about how things work in this universe.
Christian type of God is not part of it, trust me. I'm an agnostic.. I really can't say if there is a God or not, but I laugh at the ones that blindly shout out His/Her's existence too, based on a scrap book written during hundreds of years and by dozens of people.
When I read the Holy Bible, I see a lot of wisdom in it. It perfectly fits the hygienical standards of those days and it's giving many good advice on people.. Eating pork was dangerous in those days, for real.. Blood transplants were dangerous in those days, not anymore..
Bible gives hygiene instructions for troops on wartrips (like that you should build a lavatory some way out of the camp, not toejam inside the perimeter to avoid infectious diseases etc.)
It's easy to see the value the book must have had 2000 years ago, but now all that stuff is really outdated and anyone still following the 2000 year old (material) teachings is really nothing but a fool.
The social teachings are, of course, still as valid as they were in those days. If you live like the Bible says, you're prone to live a peaceful co-existence with your neighbors. Nothing smarter has been invented afterwards (even though Bush administration thinks otherwise at the moment
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