I thank you for your action. It's always good to know you're not alone. Even though I am not sure to be atheist, I know I don't want to belong to any faith or to be indoctrinated. I have been raised in a christian environment but I have always found the stories of happy martyrs who would sacrifice themselves for others quite boring. And going to church was like going to hell : an hour of doing nothing.

I think it is important culturally to now what the bible is about, but I think it would be better if the people who teach it weren't presenting it as proven facts. From my point of view, religion is a prison for the mind. It allows you to feel you are part of a greater community. But it also brings prejudice and a feeling of superiority over non-believers. Hence the massacre of Indians in Amazonia because they couldn't be converted. Or nowadays the religion war between Islam and Christianity.

I'm 17 and I live in France. Here when we think of fanaticism it refers on the one hand to Al Qaeda and on the other hand to the image of America portrayed in Borat. If religion could be abolished, we would save a lot of money (not paying priests) and could provide housing for many (using old churches).

Religion is often linked with charity. But I don't think fear of going to hell is a good motivation for helping other people. Religion is also said to be a light in the darkness and to bring hope. But I'm sure that children in poor countries would be happier if we built them schools instead of churchs and bought them science books instead of bibles...