No, I won't trust you because you have demonstrated you make stuff up and take on wild assumptions for anyone who is atheist. Logical and critical thinking have almost everything to do with it. It's really gross behavior by you and several others in this thread. 

Yet these suicide bombers are not just doing it out of religious beliefs, it's a result of oppression, perceived injustice and other countries invading / other religions dictating their way of life on them. Cracking down on religion isn't going to change that. 

Religion is the tool and should indeed be better regulated to prevent religious institutions being used to funnel money towards terrorism or used to spread hate speech. So should the internet be better regulated, as well as bitcoin, gofundme's, dubious charities, offshore accounts etc. 

No one also outright opposes charities, but some are used to promote hate and fund terrorism as well.

But true, religion should not be exempt of scrutiny. And imo it should also not be part of government nor diplomacy. People like JD Vance and Mike Huckabee and earlier Biden should not be in politics or leave their religion to themselves, outside of politics. 

Critical thinking has nothing to do with it. There are plenty of educated people who believe in religion. Plus we have evidence that p*rn reduces belief in God.

Porn vs. Religion | Psychology Today

I'm not making this up, feel free to do your own research, we have evidence that p*rn (as well as other forms of hedonism) reduce belief in God.

Hedonism is absolutely a factor when it comes to atheism.

I read through that entire article and didn't see anything making the claim you are. Could you quote the specific thing you are talking about that seems to indicate that hedonism leads to atheism?

Try this link (long read)

Seeing is (Not) Believing: How Viewing Pornography Shapes the Religious Lives of Young Americans - PMC

"Among the more consistent findings in research on pornography use has been that religious commitment or religiosity tends to be negatively associated with viewing pornography. Though data are almost always cross-sectional or otherwise preclude testing for directionality, the general assumption in most studies that consider religious factors is that religiosity serves as the independent variable, diminishing pornography use among young Americans via internalized moral proscriptions and social control."

Lol people are quite prude nowadays compared to earlier times.

And since God created men in his image, isn't 'studying' the human form bringing you closer to God ;)


According to this Atheism peaked in the 1970s, opposite to your claim widespread porn is stimulating atheism (nonsense)

https://www.science20.com/writer_on_the_edge/blog/atheism_peaks_while_spiritual_groups_move_toward_convergence-156528

HARD DATA 

But first, the numbers. Atheism is growing and church attendance falling, the media has been saying for years, quoting regular research findings. “Atheism is on the rise around the world,” said a BBC news report on 19 December 2014, one of dozens of similar reports.

At the same time, we also find solid statistics that the world’s popular belief systems appear to be growing steadily. Looking at various measures, it appears that Christianity adds about 25 million people a year, giving it a 1.56% growth rate. Islam has been growing at 1.5% to 1.84% but from a smaller base, adding 22 million people a year.²

That’s in terms of absolute numbers. A more scientific question to ask is: are religious populations growing in proportion to the rest of the world population? The answer appears again to be yes. If we blend in figures from the smaller faiths, we find that organized spiritual groups are growing on average at 1.2% a year, while world population growth is about 1.1% a year.³ So religions are growing in absolute and proportional terms, with Islam and Christianity expanding faster than the others.


Interesting article, confirming atheism and religion are not actually opposites...




Btw Hedonism is a philosophical view that prioritizes pleasure and the avoidance of pain as the ultimate good and guiding principle in life.

Isn't that what religion preaches, be good, party together, avoid going to hell...
Church has always been a social meeting place and is trying to be that again today.
https://www.smallgroups.com/articles/2017/sacrament-of-party.html

Somewhere, everywhere, people are connecting socially. From the beginning of time and throughout Scripture, God’s people have patterned their lives around celebration, feasts, social gatherings, levity, story-telling, eating, drinking, laughter, and listening.

Monasteries created beer and wine... 

No, that's you wanting to believe it's not about critical thinking. You cover your eyes and ears to it just the existance of evolution and dinosaurs. This blanket statement that hedonism is the only reason for atheism is ridiculous. I can write down a list why I'm agnostics/athiest and it has nothing to do with hedonism. 

Atheism peaked in the 1970s? P*rn magazines were popular at that time. It wasn't the same online viewing we have today, but p*rn existed in another form. So yes, my argument still stands. P*rn has impacted religious belief, be it online or physical magazines. No doubt about it.

And lets not forget that the 1970's had other forms of hedonism, such as casual s*x. Birth control pills were invented in the 1960s, so people in the 70s had more casual s*x and hedonistic lifestyles compared to people in earlier decades. Not saying p*rn was the only thing that made atheism grow, but it is one of the main highlights.

Hedonism sounds nice in theory, "pursuing pleasure and avoiding pain", but in practice it can make people selfish and disconnected from each other because people only care about short-term pleasures. This explains why marriage rates are falling, because people only care about themselves (individualism) and not their family as a whole (collectivism), among other things. 

Why Hedonism Doesn't Lead to Happiness | Psychology Today

The Hidden Costs of a Hedonistic Lifestyle

I bet you didn't even visit the links I mentioned. I have been researching hedonism for a long time now, and psychologists have absolutely identified many issues that it causes. For example, children who use iPads for several hours per day can have their brains re-wired due to screen usage making them prefer short-term dopamine boosts rather than long-term delayed gratitude. And of course, this type of hedonism can impact religious belief too since kids prefer to play on iPads rather than go to church etc.

What Screen Time Can Really Do to Kids' Brains | Psychology Today

How Screen Time Creates Child ‘Dopamine Addicts’ With Bad Habits

The evidence is there, plain and easy to see. I am not making this up. If you disagree with me, you are disagreeing with the psychologists who performed the research. Believe them, not me.

Oh, and you can be a Christan and believe in evolution, so that argument goes away too. Yes I believe in dinosaurs if you were wondering that.

There is a huge oversight of charities though and they’re expected to produce full accounts and explain movements of all money. The charity in this instance is just an indirect tool, not an ideological driving force.