Psychology looks at atheism and theism. Also, atheism is tenuous/non-existent/rare ..

I don't really comprehend the point you are trying to make, Kendemyer.Ken wrote:

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You have not done the following:1. Provided evidence that professed atheism enhances mental wellness.2. Provided evidence that atheism exist.

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1. I'll go out on a limb here, and admit that I don't believe atheism consistently enhances mental wellness (however that may be defined). If religion is an evolved trait, then atheists are excluding or denying this compulsion. They also have to stare straight into the face of their own mortality and deal with it without making up fairy tales.This is certainly no sales speil for atheism, but acknowldging the blind randomness of existence is not always heartening.Some atheists deal with this perfectly ok. At least there is a reassuring degree of consistency in atheism.On the other hand the "mental wellness" of the theist is predicated on a appeal to the emotional compulsion to avoid the fear of mortality. It manifests extremely inconsistently as shown by the myriad of religious beliefs and the variable mental states of those within them.I'd have to say, that those theists that "appear" to be the most mentally sorted are those that take their faith entirely dogmatically and refuse to analyse the validity of their beliefs. Emotional masturbation at the cost of intellectual integrity.Not really my idea of mental wellness either.2. While I do acknowledge that some athiest are conclusive in their beliefs, I do not see an issue if some atheists border between atheism and agnosticism. Most atheists have come into thier beliefs through a thorough appraisal of the evidence available for the existence of God. Why is it that retaining some degree of openess to new evidence that might comes along is seen as a deficiency by you?Atheist Martyrs?
Given that life is the most valuable thing to an atheist, why the heck would you expect to see atheist martyrs?

I am an atheist.I offer the following in support of my own atheism (and this probably applies to many other atheists).1) I can meticulously rationalise and explain why, beyond all reasonable doubt, that the Christian God does not exist. I can also demonstrate the non-existence of the Christian God by testing Christian claims. This forms the basis of my professed belief in atheism.2) It would be absurd for me to profess atheism, if I had any doubt about the non-existence of the Christian God because by doing so I risk eternal damnation.3) If I died right now I would gladly die an atheist.Atheist martyrs?As I stated above, logically we could not expect to see an atheist dying for the cause of atheism, because to the atheist life is infinitely valuable. We would actually expect an atheist to pay lip service to any faith, if failure to do so would result in his earthly demise.We still see atheist "martyrs" in a sense, EVERY TIME SOMEONE DIES AN ATHEIST.Given that Christianity allows repentance and salvation at any time, why would anyone then chose to die an atheist, unless they REALLY were an atheist?I further propose that religious martyrdom is an excellent example of mental un-wellness. Given the number of religions and number of mutually exclusive denominations within those religions, logically the vast majority of all martyrs die in vain and will not achieve their goal of eternal salvation.That's totally crazy.Finally, Ken, I note that you didn't address my earlier point on the issue of atheism and mental wellness. If religiosity is a evolutionary trait we would expect to see some sort of negative indicator amongst those who are not religious. Not necessarily amongst all: but some.Over 90% of the world's population have beliefs of some kind, ranging from fundamentalism down to vague, watery, feel good spirituality to "plug the gap" so to speak.I agree religion plays an important role in the psyche of the vast population in the world. This role is fulfilled, whether the beliefs are right or wrong. If you are trying to promote religion based on the studies you posted in the first post, then I suggest those who find this argument compelling seek out a vague, watery, feel good spirituality to provide the required endorphins and leave the dangers of fundamentalism to those impressionable few.