If you consider other facts..such as the recent report on the religious affiliations of the current presidential candidates (majority if not all are christian - see below) ..... Looks bad ..I see this as probably one of the best indicators for the failure of christianity...'in god we trust'or what?A survey carried out in June by Harris Research for the Financial Times shows that 32 per cent of respondents in five European countries regard the US as a bigger threat than any other state. In the US itself, North Korea and Iran are seen as the biggest risks. However, the youngest US respondents share the Europeans view that theirs is the biggest threat, with 35 per cent of American 16- to 24-year-olds identifying it as the chief danger to stability. The level of European concern about the US has remained broadly consistent over the past year. In 11 previous polls dating back to July 2006 the proportion of respondents considering the US a threat to stability has ranged between 28 per cent and 38 per cent. The latest poll comes in the wake of the surge that has increased US forces in Iraq to about 160,000 troops, but which has not been accompanied by political breakthroughs or a dramatic reduction of violence. During President George W. Bushs second term the administration has also embarked on a more consensual international approach to issues such as Irans nuclear programme and North Koreas nuclear bomb. But the poll shows that the European public still considers Mr Bush a risk. It is evidence of the continued estrangement between the European public and the Bush administration, in spite of a real improvement in official ties, said Ron Asmus, head of the Brussels office of the German Marshall Fund, which works to bolster transatlantic ties. It is proof that the next president will be confronted with the major challenge of improving Americas image abroad, starting with Europe and our main allies. Inhabitants of Spain are most concerned about the US, with 46 per cent of respondents naming America as the biggest threat. European poll respondents who also come from France, Germany, Italy and the UK are increasingly concerned about China, which 19 per cent perceive as the biggest threat, up from 12 per cent last July. Meanwhile, 17 per cent identify Iran as the biggest threat, 11 per cent Iraq and 9 per cent North Korea. Only 5 per cent single out Russia, despite increased tensions between Moscow and the west. The polls data on the US indicate that 25 per cent of Americans see North Korea as the biggest threat, followed by Iran with 23 per cent, China with 20 per cent, and the US itself with 11 per cent. The poll is consistent with findings last week by the Pew Global Attitudes Project, which found that favourable ratings of the US had declined in 26 of 33 countries over the past five years. But the Pew poll also contrasted unfavourable ratings of the US with much more positive responses in Israel, Poland, Japan, India and parts of Africa and Latin America. The survey for the Financial Times was carried out online by Harris Interactive between July 2006 and June 2007. More than 1,000 people were polled in each country each month.http://www.ft.com/cms/s/70046760-27f0-11dc-80da-000b5df10621.htmlhere is a run down of the cnn report into the candidates religionDEMOCRATS: Delaware Sen. Joseph Biden: Roman Catholic New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton: Methodist Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd: Catholic Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards: Methodist Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich: Catholic Illinois Sen. Barack Obama: Christian New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson: Catholic ___ REPUBLICANS: Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback: Catholic Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani: Catholic California Rep. Duncan Hunter: Baptist Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee: Southern Baptist Arizona Sen. John McCain: Episcopalian Texas Rep. Ron Paul: Baptist Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney: Mormon Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo: Presbyterian Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson: Southern Baptist(are there any non believers...or wouldn't that be a very good politian tactic to declare it?)

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In exchange for obedience, Christianity promises salvation in an afterlife; but in order to elicit obedience through this promise, Christianity must convince people that they need salvation, that there is something to be saved from. Christianity has nothing to offer a happy person living in a natural, intelligible universe. If Christianity is to gain a motivational foothold, it must declare war on earthly pleasure and happiness, and this, historically, has been its precise course of action. In the eyes of Christianity, woman(man) is sinful and helpless in the face of God, and is potential fuel for the flames of hell. Just as Christianity must destroy reason before it can introduce faith, so it must destroy happiness before it can introduce salvation.

-- George H Smith, Atheism: The Case Against God