Reply #5: Find me ONE case of a suicide bomber who didn't believe in an afterlife

[PurityOfEssence]

One, that's all I ask.

But yet the overriding societal bigotry is that religion is good. Religion is better than not believing. Those who believe are much better human beings.

9-11 changed virtually nobody's mind; it just amplified prejudices that were already there. Falwell saw it as god's wrath for tolerating homos and abortion; I saw it as yet another murderous act by believers who don't like competing assumptions.

Islamic fundamentalism gives people the excuse and motivation for sucide bombing. It's not the only religion that does it, it just DOES IT REALLY WELL. Without the sugarcandy mountain dreamland waiting where the big Skydaddy will pat you on the head and give you the approval you were denied in life, I don't think people would willingly kill themselves in such great numbers. The belief in an afterlife is a scourge to mankind: it's responsible for endless justifications for taking the lives of others.

Not only that, having to hang out for eternity with 72 virgins sounds like sheer hell.