Pandering to the Public

Religion is often in the business of saying what people want to hear to face their worst fears. Atheism does not make these promises, and is not comforting. Here is how I see the positions that the two sides take in various real world situations.

Situation	Religion	Atheism
I don't want to die.	OK, as long as you say/believe the right things you can live forever. It just looks like you die.	Sorry, everybody has to die. It is part of the natural cycle of life.
Life is unfair.	Don't worry, it's all gonna be sorted out after you die by the intelligent being that is watching out for us.	Yes; Even though we work to make things fair for everyone, our different positions and situations in life are somewhat arbitrary.
I'm a heterosexual, and I think homosexuals are icky	You are right and they are wrong. Force everybody to be heterosexual, and pester them if they don't fall in line	Let's see if we can make a world where we all get along with people who are different from us. Freedom depends on tolerance.
Those people over there believe in God that's different than I do	You are right and they are wrong. Tell them they need to change their minds. If you need to, go to war over it.	Nobody has any idea what's true about gods we're all just doing the best we can. Be humble.
The world is such a big complex mysterious place. I don't understand where it came from.	A magical, intelligent being waved a wand, and it all appeared in seven days in the current form.	It is certainly a puzzle, but if we study the evidence that has been left to us, maybe we can work out how it happened.
There's so many different animals. I can't understand how it all came to be this way.	A magical, intelligent being waived a wand, and it all appeared in seven days with an amazing plan for how everything works together.	By studying all of the fossils in all of the layers of rock it looks exactly as if life evolved over long period of time from one type of animal to the next each living intertwined with others.
I understand the senses, but how is it that I actually experience what the senses say about the world?	You have a magical thing called a soul, which is separate from your body. It was provided by God so that you could experience things.	Your body and your mind are part of the universe. Your experience is the interaction among all this, but we haven't worked out all the details.
Do we have free well?	Yes, God gave it to you to see if you would be good or not. You better take care if you're not good you're gonna have an eternity of torture.	It looks like the entire world is deterministic, but even in the midst of that, we experience the world, and we act upon the world as part of that deterministic mixture. It's not completely free well, but we are able to help determine some things about what happens.
I'm not feeling very well today.	You probably have a host of evil spirits inhabiting your body because you weren't following God's commandments to the letter. Here are some rituals you can do that will scare them away. Also, if you can get some of your friends to say some magic words to themselves, that can help as well.	The body wasn't designed to be perfect, and there are germs in the world which take advantage of that sometimes. We found some chemicals and treatments that can help sometimes, but also in many cases if you rest, the immune system will take care of it for you.
I'm heading into battle and I really would like to survive until the following day	Say some magic words to yourself and carry these symbolic objects, and the mystical, intelligent being in the sky will step in and manipulate things to your advantage against the other guy. The other guy probably won't think to do the same.	Try to work through all the things that might happen, and be as prepared as possible, and work closely together with others. There are no guarantees and there are no easy solutions.
My ancestors have died and I miss them terribly	No problem, when you die, they're going to be there in heaven and you'll be back together just the way it was when you were a child.	The cycle of birth and death is natural and unavoidable. Remember them as best you can, and share that feeling with other surviving family members, but we all eventually will die.
I really really really don't wanna die	Let's build a sacred building. We can donate money to make an elaborate environment to convince ourselves that there's life after death which can be attained by performing the right rituals. Whether it works or not, won't be known until after you die. If you're a minister priest, don't worry nobody's gonna know if you did it right before they die.	Let's share a knowledge in a way that requires evidence for every conclusion so that we don't fool ourselves into believing false things. Let's build institutions dedicated to understanding how to prolong life and share it with the world.
There's so many people starving and suffering around me	Let them all know that this suffering is part of a greater plan, and those that suffer more in life will get some special benefits after they die, so they shouldn't worry too much about the fact that they're suffering. Suffering is actually a grace.	Let's see if we can work together and feed everybody, and let's see if we can find a way to eliminate the suffering here on earth. The world is not perfect, and so they'll always be some amount of suffering, but there are many things we can do better at, and it simply will take some work.
I seem to be doing pretty well. I am a lot richer than most of the people around me.	God gave it all to you because you're such a good person and you did all the work yourself. Go ahead and enjoy it you deserve it. Of course, you should give 10% to support religion, so you will be fine after you die.	Everything we do is built on generous efforts of the generations before us to make a world where such richness is possible. If you've been lucky and wealth has come your way, always remember that you could not have done it without the thousands of people around you. Keep them in mind when they have needs.
There's a young man in our neighborhood who acts in a queer effeminate way, and is not like other young men.	That person is wrong. If he tries to wear the wrong kind of clothes, punish him for it. If he behaves in a way that is not manly, force him to behave the way he should.	Let's remember that our own freedom is dependent on others being tolerant of what we want to do. In return, we must be tolerant of what others want to do even if we don't like it. If it's not actually harming anyone, then why not let them be free to do what they want?
A young girl is now pregnant because an older man seduced her. She's not ready to take on the responsibilities of adulthood, she has a lot more to learn before being prepared for motherhood.	She doesn't get any choices in this world. The quality of her life means nothing. Worry instead about the quality of what she gets after death. God's plan was for her to be a teenage mother and she should be forced to follow that plan.	Every person has an inalienable right to say how their body can and cannot be used. We only get one life and when we die, that's all we get. If she has the chance to get education and to have kids when she's mature and ready for it, those kids will be healthier, happier, and better adjusted for society. Forcing her to carry this baby to term will probably prevent those healthier later children in exchange for a child that will suffer all of its life. It is, however, a choice that can only made by the young woman herself.
There's a person in our community who acts in the strangest ways. When you ask him questions, he can't always answer with a straightforward response. What should we do?	That person is misbehaving and not following God's laws. "Love" them as much as possible, and by "love" we mean punish them when they can't figure out what to do.	The body and mind are not perfect, and sometimes people are born who are unable to understand what's going on around them. Some of them can be helped by treatments of various means. We should get organizations together to try to figure out how to help people, who are mentally unstable, so that we all can have acceptable lives together.
I feel grateful for the world and I'd really like to know how I can give back to humanity	Spend as much time as you can convincing people that our religion is the right one and that even if they suffer on earth, as long as they say the right things, they can be part of a better plan after death.	Spend as much time as you can supporting organizations that carefully collect knowledge about the world and how to make life better for everyone. Each contribution builds on a body of knowledge that ultimately helps everybody in future generations.
The world is becoming warmer causing life on land and in the oceans to die out. This appears to be caused by pollution from mankind in the last 150 years. What should I do?	God gave us this planet to use anyway we need. It was God's plan to have oil and coal so that we could burn it. The world's gonna end in a few years anyway so there's no real point in trying to save the planet.	We became dependent on burning fossil fuel and now we can see that had a bad effect on the planet. Future generations depend on us making the right decisions. Even though it's a bit of a sacrifice, we need to find a way out of our addiction to fossil fuels, because we have only one earth and mankind must find a way to live sustainably in this precious environment.
I am wondering if there is life after death.	Absolutely yes, I have all the answers. It is here in this one book which is completely correct because it was written by God, while other similar books are completely wrong. Just believe me.	You are pretty much on your own. I don't have any clear certainty, however we can discuss what I have discovered if you would like.
I am having doubts, should I check out some alternatives?	Absolutely not. If you leave the faith, all joy will leave your life. Satan is out there to trick you. Apostates are not permitted to ever come back. Families will shun members who leave the faith.	You should explore every option. If you find something that convinces you it is wrong, move on and try something else. There is no harm is looking around, because if you find that your original position was still best, you can always come back to it.