And give 'em a Darwin award on their way out!

The so-called Christian loons are going to try to take over South Carolina, and if that doesn't work, they'll secede. Let 'em go, say I. We'll all be better off. From Reuters:

CHARLESTON, South Carolina (Reuters) - Cory Burnell wants to set up a Christian nation within the United States where abortion is illegal, gay marriage is banned, schools cannot teach evolution, children can pray to Jesus in public schools and the Ten Commandments are posted publicly.

To that end, Burnell, 29, left the Republican Party, moved from California and founded Christian Exodus two years ago with the goal of redirecting the United States by "redeeming" one state at a time.

First up for redemption is South Carolina.

The organization's Web site says if it does not meet its goal of change, it will work to secede from the United States.

South Carolina was the first state to secede from the union in 1860, and the first shots of the U.S. Civil War were fired from Charleston's Battery onto Fort Sumter.

Look, I know that comment about the rest of us being "better off" sounds harsh, but sometimes the truth hurts. And if the so-called Christians can't handle the truth, well, what good are they? And what good is the collection of talking points they are pleased to call a religion? From Times Online:

[A paper from social scientist Gregory Paul] published in the Journal of Religion and Society, a US academic journal, reports: “In general, higher rates of belief in and worship of a creator correlate with higher rates of homicide, juvenile and early adult mortality, STD infection rates, teen pregnancy and abortion in the prosperous democracies."

[Paul] used data from the International Social Survey Programme, Gallup and other research bodies to reach his conclusions.

He compared social indicators such as murder rates, abortion, suicide and teenage pregnancy.

Paul said that rates of gonorrhoea in adolescents in the US were up to 300 times higher than in less devout democratic countries. The US also suffered from “ uniquely high” adolescent and adult syphilis infection rates, and adolescent abortion rates, the study suggested.

Mr Paul said: “The study shows that England, despite the social ills it has, is actually performing a good deal better than the USA in most indicators, even though it is now a much less religious nation than America.”

He said that the disparity was even greater when the US was compared with other countries, including France, Japan and the Scandinavian countries. These nations had been the most successful in reducing murder rates, early mortality, sexually transmitted diseases and abortion, he added.

Mr Paul delayed releasing the study until now because of Hurricane Katrina. He said that the evidence accumulated by a number of different studies suggested that religion might actually contribute to social ills. “I suspect that Europeans are increasingly repelled by the poor societal performance of the Christian states,” he added.

So, give the so-called Christians a Darwin award, let them vote themselves off the island, then watch from the sidelines while they re-enact Lord of the Flies under the benevolent eye of The Invisible Sky God. It won't be pretty, but it won't take long, and the object lesson will solve a lot of problems. Sorry about Spoleto, but you can't make an omelette, and all that...

NOTE Thanks to alert reader Nick for the Paul study link.