This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
It's clear the biggest problem in America and in the world is religion.
Any time you have people claiming they are "speaking" for a God, "interpreting" God's words or receiving "revelations" from God, you've got the basis for extremism. When individuals give up their free agency to blindly follow a religion you see the seeds of intolerance and conflict being planted. We are doomed as a race on this planet if people don't start to think for themselves.
If you rely on a being whose existence has never been proven, then I have some land for you in Florida.
Atheists are attacked, but their belief is the only one that can be proven. They say God doesn't exist and they have the proof to back it up.
Don't give me the argument about where would people's morals come from. Religious people get their morals from a "God" who allows children to be sexually abused or murdered and then explained that "God" has a higher plan. Really? That's a person abdicating their commons sense and logical thought.
P.S. Santa Claus doesn't exist either.
Ryan Hinkins
Salt Lake City