Tony
When I read the first few sentences of this entry, I thought, "Oh great. Tim has run screaming back to the loving arms of Jesus. Another one bites the dust." How relieved I was to read that you are actually having an inner debate complete with critical thought and rational theorization.

The more I read about religion, the more staunchly atheist I become. I mean, humans' brains are much more powerful than the bodies that carry them around, and "spirituality," for many, is a crucial way to keep their minds in shape, organized, and relaxed. And traditionally, spirituality is the most prevalent among people experiencing large amounts of stress and/or turmoil. So as a tool to provide inner peace during a tumult of torment, spirituality has been extremely important in man's progress.

That said, organized religion is crap. Mankind's worst moments have all been at the hands of religious conflict. Even if religion had brought me some sort of relief or strength, I still don't think I could condone something that has caused and continues to cause so much evil and destruction in the world. Rampant use of nothing more than a story book as justification for violence proves that we are not that far removed from the dumb apes that religious types believe we are not even related to.

Rant rant rant. Blah blah blah. I'm glad you're writing again. I like to read it. Keep it up.