re: Atheists die sooner, are ill longer, and lead less happy lives than non-atheists

I was speaking to the poster who posted the list of the manuscripts, you are correct. Didn't feel like going back and quoting everything and everyone who said various things throughout this thread. I knew the post was going to get long anyway, and for most people on these boards, long is unreadable :)

But I did have some further comments to you, which is why I hit the 'reply' key on your particular post. Since you replied, I'll touch on some of that. There's a lot of harmony between what you describe and what I believe I see. I have a slightly different take on it though. First off, I do not believe in a fall-this universe is a womb for sentient life, and it is formed to create that. The bible is all about that, in reality. The light of God is in us all, and it is our selfish desires that cause the projection you speak about, and traps us within the limitations we attribute to the body. That's 'sin', and we all have it. The darkness anyone projects into the world is a product of their own making.

When the apostle Paul spoke to the Athenians, he told them that God had created man to search for Him. Everything serves that purpose and drives us towards answering that question. The light of God we sometimes see in others draws us too, or they light they see in us draws others, if we get out of the way of it.