In a highly religious society atheists are definitely on the outer. The US is a highly religious society. Therefore atheists are on the outer.

Whatever that means.

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I wasn't born with enough middle fingers.

Why not? Life has the meaning we give it. Some people find meaning in learning about the world about them, rather than accepting that all the answers can be found in just one book.

Was that for me?

I suppose we call take shelter in whatever give us the greatest comfort.

Yes. Humanism and nihilism are both examples, as is general Greco-Roman philosophy (which has more to do with our system of governance than Christianity itself).
Philosophy does not require religion.
Nor is it scientific in its assumptions (just logical in its follow-up to assumptions).

I can decide human life and happiness are important simply because they are important to me and accepted almost universally by the human race as important. The very concept of the value I place on them has no basis in science (although much of how I look at universals and human behavior is from anthropology). I could equally say humans are meaningless and the only happiness that matters is my own immediate happiness in this moment.
No basis in science. And not religion (as it is completely seperate from questions of metaphysics and does not involve communing with like-minded people. There is a total absence of myth and ritual).

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"Man lives in the sunlit world of that which he believes to be reality. But unseen by most is an underworld, a place that is just as real... but not as brightly lit... A DARK SIDE!"
-opening from Tales From the Darkside

I as a Christian have a somewhat different veiw on this subject. To me Chistianity is about living my life according to Christ's teachings, this is the basis of my morals and the way I treat others. In the same way I can respect a Muslem for living according to the teachings of Mohamed, or a Buddhist following Buddah's teachings, etc. To me biblical text, like many religous scriptures from all faiths searve to teach morality and lessons on life, "this after all is the basis of law and civilized life". The existance of God is apparent to me because I exist. God to me is the enegy that is everything, and makes life possible, "God is love, and all that". If your looking for some guy with a long white beard, sitting on a cloud, your not going to find him. Biblical scripture on this subject is an attempt to explain something that is infinite to average people, like, how far does space go? you or I will never fully understand what God is. But religion, with all its faults is still a good thing, without it we are only animals, with it we are the masters of the universe.

Well, science doesn't really hurt with the whole "Masters of the Universe" thing.

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I wasn't born with enough middle fingers.

Wasn't there a TV show call Masters of the Universe. I think there was a movie too.

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Acceptance is the answer

"Im a Tarte, what! you want some of this?"

Both of which required science!

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I wasn't born with enough middle fingers.