This sounds like a great idea!

[kandrathe]

depends what you call antisocial. If you are praying to Mekka several times per day in a village in Utah, that is pretty antisocial.

If you looked at the study I cited, you'd know the examples of antisocial behavior in question. Not laying prostrate muttering in the direction of Mecca.

There are lots of examples (sorry I am not a link master) of intelligent people who were brought up in very strict christian families who obviously when being in their late teens early twenties started understanding that what they were thought by their parents did not make any logical sense....but the fear in these people (fear for going to hell I guess) brought these people in serious psychological problems.

Which is why I specifically said "study". We could hurl a friend of my third cousin's uncles third child's boyfriend said... all day. If you respect science, then there should be more than your( or Dawkins) gut feelings involved in your critical thinking.

Cohen-Zada, D. & Sander, W. (2011) Religious Participation versus Shopping: What Makes People Happier? Journal of Law and Economics.

Diener, E., & Seligman, M.E.P. (2002). Very happy people. Psychological Science, 13, 81-84.

Okulicz-Kozaryn, A. (2010). Religiosity and life satisfaction across nations. Mental Health, Religion & Culture, 13, 155-169.

Salsman, J. M., Brown, T. L., Brechting, E. H., & Carlson, C. R. (2005). The link between religion and spirituality and psychological adjustment: The mediating role of optimism and social support. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 31, 522–535.

But more general I think kids should be thought things that are true, not things that their parents believe. I mean, who gives you the right to raise your kid christian? Maybe he wants to be a muslim?

I guess therein lays the major issue in difference of existential philosophy. Who gives you the right to have children? Who gives you the right to speak? Who gives you the right to breathe my air?

What makes sense sociologically for any creed, or even atheists, is to prohibit any exhortation to commit violent acts. For me, that includes many things secular society considers main stream, like euthanasia or capital punishment.

like those two things are the same......
Noone forces you to euthenise yourself. And to me you don't have the right to tell a person that wants to end his own life that he is not allowed to do so.

Not to get off track... my point was that, to me, you have radically dangerous beliefs that result in people dying. I will fight the law, but I won't accuse you of murder if you are acting within the law. I don't approve of capital punishment either, but again, I oppose the law and work to change minds on the topic. At the end of the day, we still need to live together on this planet.

I always get a rash when Europeans mistake our 1st amendment as freedom from religion. What it proscribes is government preference of any creed, or interference with a person freedom of thought. It is supposed to prevent the government from involvement with an individual's practice or not of their chosen faith.

Your constitution was written in a completely different time and needs to be updated. It is sad to see this very old document is always used by some people to for example allow everyone to walk around with guns.....when there is no strong government indeed having the possibility to fight for your justice is a good thing.....but in a western developed society it brings only problems.........same goes for the misuse of the freedom of religion amendment.

Ha! It is amended and amendable when 2/3rds of the states ratify the change. No one is proposing any changes to the 1st amendment! You are incredibly uninformed on the foundation of liberal democracy starting with John Locke and Stuart Mill.

As for the 2nd amendment, I think more, and more people are seeing the reason why the enlightened thinkers 400 years ago thought it would be best if the government was in constant fear of the citizens. Rather than the opposite.

I like living in a place where I can think or say whatever I like and not have the government muzzle me for it. And mostly, as long as I'm not damaging someone's property or hurting anything, and living within the laws. I can do most whatever I want. I enjoy freedom. So much so that I chafe against the obvious cases where I feel we could handle things better without restrictive laws.

But, back on point. The subsidies are not for religious study, but for general education.