Oh yeah, it's just a joke that one :)

but in terms of the swaying one way or another that you said goes both ways, I'm not at atheist just if there is confusion, it's not that "I believe there is not a God" I'm ... I don't know the name for it, I believe in facts, if a light whipped me up to heaven and was, check out these Angels, I would of course understand that I was wrong, but I just go by data and proof, I'm an IT guy, that's what we work in. I don't understand the Atheist strong beliefs that there isn't a God, for me it isn't a "light switch" type thing, it can't be argued to be On or Off because to me there has never been proof that the Switch on the wall is there.

Not just 'The Church' but religion in general.

People in positions of power have always tried to control the lower population with threats of disobedience. Whether that be prision, hell, detention etc.

What better way of controlling people is there to say, there is a God, we have communicated with him, he has given us instructions and if you don't follow you'll burn in hell forever. 

No, it would mean god COULD move everything we do, and chooses not to. 

See how easy it is to just make things up and keep it consistent with reality?

As you say at least it is a start, very sorry to hear about the family member of yours, tragic stuff when it comes to someone with mental disorders, would think that was very hard for them to try to understand what was going on.

The church acted in many ways as a mediator in many conflicts. Often banning weapons they thought cruel (usually that only delayed their use). The church kept a lot of records, including classical works in enviroments that were considered untouchable (abbeys), without which much knowledge would have been lost. Many advancements in measurement of time, philosphy and even mathematics were done by the clerus. In the cities, poor relief often only came through the church and in time of war, many people found safety in abbeys.

In the early colonial period, the church often acted to temper cruelty towards natives (something that is often overlooked). Even prompting Isabella of Span to give orders to the conquistadors to treat the natives with respect (they often didn't of course).

It's all good, I enjoy a good debate - and there's a lot of things someone could question about the bible and the meme was just...laughably not one of them, I guess. :)

Even as a Christian, it is without a doubt easy to understand why people aren't. I'd be shocked to change anyone's view on a message board about video games.

Actually Quantum Mecahnics is probabilistic and random.  Or completely wrong (as in wouldn’t work mathematically see the  EPR experiment).  The prime mover argument doesn’t really explain anything - it is just circular reasoning.  My original interest in theology was to find the original cause.  Very sad to see this not discussed properly...

Indeed, he can act as a mover additionally when he wants, but his action is not necessary for our own actions directly.

But what actions exactly, in present day, do you think religion is trying to control and for what purpose?

For those talking about the Big Bang - I'm interested to hear the atheist view of what caused it/how it happened. I know this is purely ideas without facts, but the idea that the universe exploded into existence from basically nothing seems very...powerful. I'd love to hear your theories.