@Fido,
Fido wrote:I understand the desire to blame God for the crimes of mankind
No, I don't blame god, I don't believe any gods exist. I don't blame anyone for the crimes of mankind. People do things that they want to do, weather they are bad or good, mankind determines that. In the past people believe slavery was an alright thing to do, but these days we have come to the conclusion that it's not. No god was needed for that to come about.
Fido wrote:
but what good does it serve since if God does not exist the crimes are our regardless....
Well there will always be people who regardless of what you threaten them will do things that harm others. There is no getting around that, because it will happen regardless. It is statistical math, which is another thing that a god would seem to be ignorant of if one existed. There will always be a certain portion of the human race who will ignore any rules that are put before them. This doesn't make them evil or possessed or what ever you want to deem them. They just have not accepted what society deems respectful or acceptable behavior. I would never want them punished for eternity because they might have just been misled or had some psychological issue.
No being deserves to be punished for eternity.
Fido wrote:
Most of us only need an excuse, and reason has excused as many crimes as religion... The problem is not with religion or reason, but that people will do as they wish regardless...They value God no more than God suits their purpose, and the value reason no more than reason serve their purpose...
There is no god. It neither makes nor breaks people. People decide what they want to do for what ever reasons. Sure they can believe that a god is inspiring them to behave good or bad but the reality is, they are choosing for themselves.