Does Religion Poison Everything – Refuting Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens

Here I want to address the common mantra that is being voiced out by the minority group called atheism. This new militant atheism usually lacks knowledge in history and other cultures. All too often I hear people repeating arguments from such people as Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens. The arguments goes something like this; how can you be religious don’t you know that religious people have caused all the mass murders in history and it’s done nothing but keep society in the dark ages. Of course the argument is usually more complex then this but I am sure you get the idea and possibly heard this type of argument before. Given that this is a book to defend the Christian faith that is exactly what I will do and will not defend other religions and possibly atrocities committed by people in those religions. Primarily focused on core ingredient of the militant atheist’s arguments is this, that all religions do nothing but cause harm. The problem with this argument is that Christianity has done much good for society and if this true the argument of Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins crumbles in a few seconds if a Christian can present just one good that Christianity has done for society. There are numerous things Christianity has done in the past that can be presented.

We have the abolition of slavery in England by William Wilberforce, the movement was started by protestant Christians who believed that every man was created in God’s image and no man shall have rule over another without consent. This was fought for many years originally they lost in the parliament but William Wilberforce came back and tried again this time passing the bill to abolish slavery. This was Christian movement.

Then we have the hospitals and educational structures, these were mostly all started by Christians and Jews who believed all men should receive an education of some sort. I would like to more specifically talk about one country where Christianity did much good and that is India. This country is based in the Hindu religion a pantheistic religion, which teaches if you are a morally bad person you will be reincarnated in the next life and have to work of the bad karma by suffering in this life.(please read chapter on why other religions are wrong) Given that Hinduism is prevalent in India the people would refuse to help those that were suffering because they would interfere with the karma and thus also interfere with their own karma. This is why the Christians had to build hospitals over in India, so we see here we have another good that Christianity has done.

In Australia most if not all the social welfare groups started as Christian organizations to help the poor and needy. If you actually look at all these welfare groups were all based on Christian principles and mandates given to them by Christ, to feed the poor, and give to those that were in need. I offer you a challenge if you are an atheist who uses this type of reasoning to go to the phonebook and look up the welfare societies; they are predominantly Christian and not atheistic.

I would also like to finally address an issue that Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens fail to realize in their arguments. These militant atheists are born in a Western Christian society that has Christian values, which were originally based on Christian morality. So when a disaster occurs somewhere in the world, these western Christian societies rush to send aid, you never see a Muslim or Hindu society rush to give aid, why because they do not have the same Christian values engrained into their societies that teach that one needs to actually help their fellow man when in need or disaster strikes. With all the poison, spells and delusions it is a surprise the west has ever come out of the dark ages.

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A Brief History of Northport, Long Island

Once known as Great Cow Harbor, Northport, as it is called today, was originally settled by the Matinecock Indians in the early-1600s and was founded on the sea and its natural resources.

It was marked by the Eaton’s Neck Lighthouse, which was lit for the first time in 1799, and its first dock at Bryant’s Landing, built three years later at what is today’s harbor front.

The early- to mid-19th century saw area sand mining and brick manufacturing to facilitate the construction boom in Manhattan; shellfish harvesting; and what can be considered the golden age of shipbuilding.

Despite its small size, however, transportation in its land, sea, and air forms was integral to the area’s development. The Northport, Huntington, and Oyster Bay Steamship Company, for example, was incorporated in January of 1866 and offered scheduled passenger and cargo service to New York City.

“The first side-wheel steamer, ‘Mattano,’ was purchased for $45,000 and, after (the) Jesse Carll Shipyard made repairs, she began regular service for passengers and freight to New York City,” according to “Our Stories: The History of a Community” (Northport Historical Society, p. 8). “The vessel would lay over in Northport Harbor overnight and leave at 5:30 a.m. for Manhattan. The roundtrip fare was 75 cents. Unfortunately, this service wasn’t maintained for very long.”

Track access to the town was established on April 25, 1868 when the Long Island Railroad inaugurated service to the Northport Station on Washington Avenue, located a half-mile south of Main Street. A second terminal, in East Northport, opened five years later as part of the railroad’s line extension to Port Jefferson.

Although this latter station became the sole passenger depot in 1899, the village’s original terminal saw freight operations for another 79 years.

Commuters nevertheless needed a local method of reaching these stations. While George W. Wheeler of Fresh Pond remedied the interurban challenge with a passenger and mail stagecoach service from Main Street that necessitated a half-hour and 25 cents for the trip, the Northport Traction Company, with its electric trolleys, replaced it with a faster, more reliable method in 1902.

Operating on a single, three-mile track, which entailed 14 stops between its Woodbine Avenue terminal and the East Northport train station, it was provisioned with switch sidings so that trolleys could pass one another.

“A two-man crew of motorman and conductor outfitted in tailored two-piece uniforms and large brimmed hats greeted riders of the Northport trolley each day,” according to “Our Stories: The History of a Community” (ibid, p. 17). “The motorman also wore heavy padded rubber gloves to protect himself from the current coming through the power lever, while the conductor carried a deck of cards to help pass the time when the current failed to come.”

Nevertheless, the service served the community well for 22 years. Although the track remains imbedded in Main Street and serves an occasional tourist trolley run, feet and wheels provide conveyance down it today.

Transportation-accessed, the village had become autonomous in the autumn of 1894, when voters approved its incorporation, electing Nathaniel Ackerly, Clinton Hubbs, and Charles Sanford as trustees, with postmaster and tinsmith William Sammis as president, so that residents could more fully regulate their home affairs, create a better quality of life, and stimulate the local economy.

While the village had achieved sea and land (rail) access, it was not without an air means. Brandley Field Air Station, in support of World War I, was established on 90 acres of farmland on the northeast corner of Jericho Turnpike and Larkfield Road in East Northport. Even its farmhouse served as its headquarters.

Structures were both temporary and permanent. In the former case, tents accommodated some 700 men. In the latter, five steel hangars housed squadron aircraft, since the fledgling field became the final training station, in conjunction with Mitchel Field, located further west, for fighter pilots bound for their European assignments.

In what was once a doll factory on 10th Avenue in East Northport, a plant headed by Roy Knabenschue churned out lighter-than-air surveillance balloons for the government.

While access to the Gold Coast village of Northport sandwiched between Huntington and Smithtown is either by automobile from Route 25 or 25A or boat through the harbor, today it is a scenic, compact, history-rich destination, whose Main Street is lined with Victorian buildings, including the original 1914 Carnegie Library, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and houses the Northport Historical Society, and the John W. Engeman Theater, where live plays and performances take place in the original 1932 structure.

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