A common perception of religious people is that atheists are a bunch of drinking, smoking, fornicating, and promiscuous hooligans. I don't want to class all religious people into this mold because it wouldn't be true. I am not aware of any statistics gathered on the lifestyles of non-religious and religious, but that would be an interesting project for an honor student or grad student. From this point forward, I put forth a disclaimer that any generalizations I make about a certain group do not necessarily reflect the tendencies or attitudes of all members of that group.

Many religions and denominations have prohibitions against behaviors which, if done to excess, would be detrimental to health. Islam forbids alcohol and sex outside of marriage. Most Baptists and Pentecostals I've known think drinking, smoking, and fornicating are a sin. I remember one Sunday school where the subject of driving over the speed limit was brought up. Someone asked "Would Jesus speed?". My former Presbyterian church's pastor suggested that drinking and smoking could be done in moderation. Every religious person I've met believes that sex outside of marriage is a sin.

I myself reject the concept of "sin" so I do not believe that engaging in these behaviors constitutes one. However, I do want to point out that alcohol and nicotine are addictive substances. Drinking alcohol in what is called "moderation" means a very small amount. Most of what I've read on the subject suggest that anything over three drinks per day constitutes a dependency. Most people also know that inhaling carbon monoxide shortens the lifespan. In the recent decades, the public has been exposed through media to hypotheses suggesting that red wine has health benefits. When those media claims came out, sales of red wine tripled in that month. Any health benefit which may come from drinking red wine has been used as an excuse to over-indulge. I have seen others do it, and, at one point in my life, I have subconsciously done it myself. If we truly want to accrue health rewards from drinking wine, it is in our best interests to educate ourselves thoroughly on the subject before we go drinking willy nilly.

Believers' refrain from partaking in such activities may result in their living longer with less negative health benefits. Non-believers' immoderate partaking in such activities may result in their living on this earth a shorter time than they could have. If Christopher Hitchens had not drank and smoked so much, his brilliant mind might still be with us today.

The main purpose of this blog is perhaps a selfish one. My main objective is to get my fellow non-believers thinking about this. I plan to live a very long and, as far as it is possible, healthy life. I want my companions on this earth to be people who are intelligent and interesting. I don't like the prospect of my fellow non-believers dying before they need to and me being stuck with mostly religious fuddy-duddys. Religious conservatives just might live longer because they didn't "sin" so much. There will be other non-believers around, of course, but they may not be in my age group and may not want to hang out with me.

My message is this: Fellow non-believers, take care of thy selves.