I consider myself religious, but it's a very personal, considered religion. I define "religion" as "a person's relationship with the eternal/the cosmos/whatever's out there." It should be something acquired after contemplation and study and honest consideration of what's inside one's head. Maybe your parents' religion fits that bill, more power to you, peace be unto you. That discipline of thought, though, is not something most people can do, to my mind. For some, it's simpler to just accept the Religion Packet they were handed as a kid and not spend any more effort on it.

I would like to see a breakdown of intelligence as it relates to socioeconomic status and urban vs. rural living.

Don't bother, it's not worth the further aggravation. There is a serious validity issue. With regard to racial differences, I talk about this to my class and go on a (at least) 2-week rant.

I haven't read the article so I can only base my opinions on personal encounters. I've encountered very intelligent deeply religious people, and very intelligent atheists. I've also known average people of the religious and atheist variety. There are those who are self righteous and obnoxiously intolerant of those who do not agree with them at all levels of intelligence and religious belief. I'm partial to those who accept each others beliefs as personal choice whether they are smarty pants or not.

Hello all! I wanted to say that in regard to:

"he has a good heart." My comeback was, "well, I've never seen it."

The appropriate follow-up might be, "well, I've never seen it ... should I open him up and look?"

Evidence that atheists aren't all that smart: BoA held a carrot in front of us saying that if we just got a letter from the condo's HOA, the loan would close. So we finally went out of pocket to pay the HOA's attorney to do extra work that no other bank asks for...and this morning the processor sent a snippy email saying it wasn't enough and our loan file is closed and declined.

Drew and I have spent nine months trying to get this loan. We desperately need it right now. We spent hundreds of dollars trying to get it. I feel helpless and angry and violated.

Jebus Pix. I cannot believe they are still treating you like this.

Oh, Pix, that's horrible. Gah, I'm so sorry.

Fairly sure BoA is a subsidiary of Wolfram & Hart.

Fairly sure BoA is a subsidiary of Wolfram & Hart.

And their sister subsidiary Wells Fargo.

I'm so sorry, Pix. They have caused so many including the both of us so much stress. The worst part is the all out hatred and anger they bring out in me. Those emotions are foreign and totally unwanted by my peaceful nature. I hate that they make me feel that way.

Laura, exactly! I hate who I am when I have to deal with this. So depressing. Lesson learned. Maybe it was worth the money to finally motivate us to move to a credit union, which we will be doing as soon as the busy Halloween season is done.

And WS, absolutely no doubt in my mind. They are awful.