ABC's Nightline has a fascinating story about Edward Kagin, an atheist and provocateur, who conducted a mass "de-baptism" of fellow non-believers to symbolically dry off the baptism waters:
Standing at a podium wearing a long brown monk's robe, Kagin read with the oratorical skill of a preacher from a set of pages in his hand and invited participants to come forward to be de-baptized.
He recited a few mock-Latin syllables, to the audience's amusement. An assistant produced a large hairdryer, labeled "Reason and Truth," and handed it to Kagin. The man who'd elected himself to be de-baptized stood before him. Kagin turned on the hairdryer, blowing the hot air in his face in an attempt to symbolically dry up his baptismal waters.
"Come forward now and receive the spirit of hot air that taketh away the stigma and taketh away the remnants of the stain of baptismal water," Kagin shouts.
These for the most part are pretty good responses.
1. Not sure where you're going with that one.
2. This may be pretty true but isn't exactly a good reason.
3. It may still br messed up but at least years of systematic inquiry and double checking our answer has given us some small degree of know why and how we've managed to mess it up, and what maybe we might be able to do about it.
And I do think this is largely a success, education and religion are kept mostly independent of each othmom by most people in the mainstream. That is to say, I can tell you much more about a person's beliefs if I know they're educational background, rather than their religious background. Generally if religion is more about how you get out of bed and less about what you believe I tend to find it much healthier.
4. But then how do accept that god let's evil men go unpunished... Etc. That's a whole can of worms.
5. I'm completely down with this one because you included those adjectives, simple personal quite.
Religion tells good people to be good, and bad people to be bad, and has no system of accountability. What's important to me is to live in world that doesn't foster confusion.
"wonder why people still believe in god when the age of reason started 300 years ago"
i can think of a few:
1. because belief and reason are mutually exclusive.
2. because what people need (or perceive themselves as needing) varies widely for no logical reason (faith is to life what fetishes are to sex) but improves their lives anyways.
3. because the age of reason started 300 years ago and yet the world is in the shape that it's in, with the average man powerless to change it, and the concept that this is as good as it gets doesn't tend to get people out of bed in the morning.
4. because good men can't accept that evil men go unpunished.
5. because simple, personal, quiet belief in god may improve ones life to the detriment of no one.