Old Wine in New Bottles

the amount of fictional suffering we enjoy watching in our different forms of entertainment, from television shows to movies and games and beyond, and all to escape every once and a while from the insufferable experience of the reality we have created for ourselves, and is the truest example of the miracle of faith over reason. 

Consider the fact that children's shows contain more violence than any other type of programming.  And yet we call this a Christian nation. The only thing Christian about such a nation is its worship of the image of human crucifixion as the most profitable form of entertainment, from television to the pews. We adore violence to such an extent, in fact, that by the age of 18, the average 18-year-old (in US) has seen more than 200,000 acts of  violence. And in almost 75% of those violent scenes, no one is punished for the violent act."

The act of violence not only desensitizes us to suffering all around us, especially economic suffering, but worse, the fact that 75% go unpunished subliminally reinforces a culture of irresponsibility, through entertainment that conditions us to believe we will only be held responsible for our worst actions 25% of the time.
  

For the "believer," believing that a fictional story is "true" when that fictional story is one of Jesus Christ, and when that story is likewise "believed" to be both "true" and sacred, is all God could ever want from us. And that by simply "believing" such a story is both true and sacred, a person can avoid hell and live forever in a chocolate factory in the sky.

By so believing, and adamantly at that, and by simply getting enough people to also believe that the story is both true and sacred, the Christian believes they will eventually succeed at reducing the amount of suffering in the world; and if not, at the very least, as already stated, they hope to win heaven and save their soul from eternal damnation, just for giving it the old college try.    

For the atheist, on the other hand, this makes about as much sense as believing that if enough people believe that the Game of Thrones or the Lord of the Rings stories are both "true" and "sacred," we will somehow reduce all the suffering in the world by convincing everyone to live up to the standards of Jon Snow or Bilbo Baggins.

And when you consider the the former rose from the dead after being murdered as a heretic and a blasphemer for coming out to the world as "the son of God," and the latter was hired as a thief, they are simply modern day versions of Jesus Christ and Adam in the Garden of Eden.  

And religion is simply old wine in new bottles, that "believers" drink like "blood" every Sunday.