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You say that no one takes Christianity seriously. Here are the actual numbers. Let's see whether most people take Christianity seriously, or atheism seriously. The following information is from the U.S. Center for World Missions Mission Frontiers.org

% of the World
Population
Religion
33.0% Christian
19.6% Muslim
13.4% Hindu
12.7% Non-religious belief in a diety
6.4% Chinese folk religions
5.9% Buddists
3.8% Ethno religionists
2.5% Atheists
0.2% Jews
2.5% Other
   

While God is not something to be decided by a majority opinion, do you think that all of the 33% of the world who believe in Christianity are "ignorant, emotionally needy, disenfranchised, and spiritually bankrupt, stupid, unartful, and misinformed"?

If we give it some thought, do these characteristics really have anything to do with someone's choice of what to believe? I think you'll find some ignorant, emotionally needy, etc. people in all of the above categories. You'll also fine highly intelligent, happy, emotionally fullfilled people in all of the above categories.

If is interesting to note that most people in the world chose their belief in god based on what their parents believe.

But let's look at this in a rational, scientific way, and see what the answer is.

If we are to be rational and intellectual about choosing our belief system, I'd think we would chose the relegious system that gave us the most benefits*. After all, any god who created us surely would know everything there is to know about us, and thus would be able to create a belief system that would be best for us.

The Barna Group has done research in this area. They have found that the group of American's who are the most happy with their lives, and are the least stressed out, are Evangelical Christians. Here is a summary of the survey results.

**Stressed Out **Satisfied With Life
Evangelical Christian 16% 91%
Christian 31% 79%
non-Christian 33% 75%
Atheist/Agnostics 42% 68%
(**August 2002 survey by the Barna Group)

So it seems that when we look at what works, those who are the strongest belivers in the Bible are the most satisfied with their lives. On the other hand, those who do not believe in God are the most stressed out and the least satisfied with their lives.

*Please note: Christian do not chose to be a Christian for what they get from Christianity.