Why do runners make a cross when they finish?

Because think the magic being cares more about their running than the children with bone cancer.

John Utah wrote:

Ana Theist wrote:

They make crosses because they're superstitious.

There are many, many otherwise-intelligent people who behave irrationally when it comes to religion. In fact, most god-belief is explicitly founded on irrationality.

That's the way people are. You're not going to change many of them.

Nobody pushes their beliefs more than the atheists. Without fail. You can count on them.

You show you clearly do not know what atheism means ..... maybe look that up first before replying and embarrassing yourself?

Ana Theist wrote:

They make crosses because they're superstitious.

There are many, many otherwise-intelligent people who behave irrationally when it comes to religion. In fact, most god-belief is explicitly founded on irrationality.

We can debate whether "superstitious" was needed here--other than to troll for outraged responses, of course--but technically speaking this usage does meet the definition of the word.

Superstitious--adjective:

". . . believing in, full of, or influenced by superstition."

Superstition--noun:

"1. a belief or notion, not based on reason or knowledge, in or of the ominous significance of a particular thing, circumstance, occurrence, proceeding, or the like.

"2. a system or collection of such beliefs.

"3. a custom or act based on such a belief.

"4. irrational fear of what is unknown or mysterious, especially in connection with religion.

"5. any blindly accepted belief or notion."

Why cross themselves?

They just like the comfort factor of having a non-existent big daddy.

To protest the Ethiopian government

Christianity is the main religion in USA

All fairy tales

If you think a supreme being created original matter and not some unspecified, undiscovered, yet clearly scientific process, you are clearly a gullible rube.

Now does someone have a soapbox I can borrow to lecture everyone how because religion was often used as an excuse for violence, all religious beliefs are invalid. We really need more atheistic/agnostic mass murderers like Stalin and Pol Pot. Those guys had their motivations straight.

Wowzers wrote:

We really need more atheistic/agnostic mass murderers like Stalin and Pol Pot. Those guys had their motivations straight.

What we REALLY need is more rationality. I don't think many would suggest that Stalin's and Pol Pot's actions were governed by an excess of rationality.

And, in any case, your post is at most an argument in favor of god-BELIEF--not an argument supporting the actual existence of a "deity."

When I cross the finish line a make the sighn of an atom.

No need for all this debate. They are making a cross to symbolize cross country.