I don't want them to.

Separate issue.

In Nigeria, and across most of black Africa, what divides us is mostly tribalism and religion. We are not, as yet, divided by ideology. But here, the left-right ideological divide is tearing the country apart. Ideology can generate the same amount of hatred as religion and tribalism, and as is the case with places where the other two dominate, it is dangerous when a group acquires any appearance of absolute power. As American culture lurches toward the liberal left, I fear that it may be seeking such power.

The left has developed a potent strategy against which the right simply cannot contend: characterizing those who do not embrace liberal values as morally bankrupt, using labels like "bigot," among the worst of insults to Americans. I have observed that the default dynamic of public interaction here is for people to try to parse the group's consensus, and for everyone -- every single person -- to navigate toward that. Most people will not say what they truly feel. This is what has confounded me most about America in the time I have been here: The fear of being labeled with a disparaging term -- often simply for articulating a perspective that does not align with liberal political values -- causes many to remain silent. Freedom of speech is being severely curtailed throughout the country.

On Sundays I ride my bike instead of sitting on a fat...pew.

When I was a kid, I sang in the church choir.  My 96-y.o. mom, who lives by herself, has a driver's license, takes Pilates and French classes, has given up on religion.

For an omnipotent deity, God is curiously constrained.  He can't defeat Satan, and He gave his "only begotten son" to save us from sin.

What, He couldn't have any more kids?  Why not?  He's "the father."

And why go through all this convoluted process of sacrifice and resurrection to accomplish something an omnipotent deity should be able to do by fiat.  Looks to me like He tortured the Kid just for fun.  Could have given Him a little morphine, ease the pain, but noooo.

It's the most "Rube Goldberg" approach to salvation I could imagine.

Also, if God is "the father," who is the mother?  Only reason I am a father is because someone else is a mother.

The study was conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health, not the Harvard School of Religion, so I think the researchers were just looking at health benefits.

But if you feel that all attending religious services are evil racist bigoted misogynous evil doers, I doubt you would appreciate the health benefits determined by this study.

I myself fall into the believe in God, do not attend services category, so , it was some interest to me.

"Our results suggest that there may be something important about religious service attendance beyond solitary spirituality," said Tyler VanderWeele, professor of epidemiology at Harvard Chan School and senior author of the study. "Part of the benefit seems to be that attending religious services increases social support, discourages smoking, decreases depression, and helps people develop a more optimistic or hopeful outlook on life."

He offered a tragically ironic explanation for his Confederate flag display in a comment posted on the YouTube video.

"I was offended by the blacks sitting through our anthem," Greene said. "Thousands more whites fought and died for their freedom. However this is not about the Armed forces, they are cop haters."