Hm. Hatchet provided a good point, there. But in response to the Sun God thing, The Sun does not die each night and it is not born again each day. We are spinning, so the Sun only appears to move. The Sun is an important part of our lives, though. So it is like a god, and perhaps then it is. We all seem to consider gods as beings that think and talk, but what about the other things, the inanimate objects, that we would die without.
As for the churches, I'm not saying that religion is bad. It teaches people morals, and gives us something to believe in, something that gives us hope. But the churches don't just teach us. They set rules to follow as well. That's the government's job, and I wonder if even THEY should be setting down all these damn rules. I know that at least one church forbids condoms because "if you have a baby it is because God wants you to have a baby." So how many people who could not afford or take care of more children have gotten pregnant? That's what happens when the church dictates people's lives. Teaching us religion, whether true or false, helps us live with hope. The charities that churches set up are good. But there's a lot that is bad about churches. Such as priests molesting children. Crazed psychopaths I would expect to, but not men who dedicate their lives to Jesus.

A little off topic, but hopefully someone can answer me. Why would God demand the human sacrifice of his son to absolve or dissolve or whatever the sins of man? I don't know, I've heard a few things about that whole crucification thing. I've heard it was to absolve the sins of man, I've heard the Romans did it because they hated Christians (such as burning them/feeding them to lions for fun), and I've heard that the Jews did it because he healed a blind man on a Sunday.

I will stop now since I seem to be ranting.

thats what we think, but ancient tribes would worship many God's, alot of which where inanimate objects, because they realized their dependents on them...just because we've "evolved" to only choose to pray to one single God who we've made to look like us..doesn't really mean that those inanimate objects lose their power over us
yea about that...i got beef with that, as you said in every example you mentioned, the crucifix is portraying death and execution...i don't know about you, but if i was really choosing to be a peaceful religion, i wouldn't make my symbol an electric chair

yeah and I can agree with hatchet about the crucifix thing. One more thing you didnt know about religion. You always see egyptian pictures on the wall with their gods with their arms across their chests. This is to symbolize protection of the heart and soul. Did you ever notice how jesus and mary always have their arms open and outstretched?

thats an interesting point...i never noticed that

Of course you realize that the outstretched arms represent them wanting to help and accept everyone, not them wanting their hearts and souls to be ripped out. It's just a difference in customs. Christianity wants people to come to their God, and Egypt wanted people to understand their Gods.
But yeah, if you're looking for a religious symbol, don't make it one that represents death, even if it has a lot to do with Jesus. Crucification was a friggen painful way to die. If you didn't bleed to death, you suffocated because part of your throat collapsed. If you hung on by supporting yourself with your legs (extremely painful) they broke them.
Come to think of it, we consider beheading people to be barbaric, but there's a lot less pain involved than with other means of execution, modern or ancient.

I used to go to a christian church with my mom, she took me with her when I was like 5 and we used to go every Sunday and some days of the week until I was like 16 or 17, but the truth is I never felt comfortable... Other thing is that I looooooooove to read, and going through my grandpa's stuff I found this book called The Naked Ape by Desmond Morris, it was great and really interesting, it talks about evolution and all so I started doubting, then I read more books, you know authors like Carl Sagan, Darwin, etc... and I started investigating on my own all this scientific evidence and right now am a bit confused, like I believe in all this evidence because it makes a lot of sense, but I'm scared cuz I think "but what if God really DOES exist and so do Heaven and Hell?..." so idk what to think right now, I wish someone or something could give me the right answer like "This is true, this isn't, end of story."
Anyway, I don't go to church anymore, my mom still does but she respects my opinions and stuff, so I guess that's fine.

Cool. I think another problem with churches is that many discourage believing in science in favor of what people thousands of years ago wrote. If there is a God, I think that he made the world as it is, and that all of the scientific evidence for evolution and the like were also in the design. So I think science disproves the Bible but does nothing to disprove the existence of a god.

Yeah, church is weird... I can't believe that catholics tell people NOT to wear condoms... are they all nuts??
And most christians are against sex cuz they think it is a sin if you do it before you get married, that's bull, God invented sex so it is good, it is great.. I have sex with my bf and my mom may not like what I do but she respects my decisions.

Another example of church trying to tell people what they can and cannot do.

And it only brainwashes you if you let it.