Tolerance is not always a good thing. Religion shapes individuals world-views in a big way, which has incredible influence on their behavior on all levels of society. A person could start a religion, and mandate that everyone needs to sacrifice themselves to God by throwing themselves into an active volcano at the age of 40 (if they failed to do so, they would go to hell). If its followers had enough faith in this religion, they would do it.
For example, even though atheists are one of the most hated groups in the United States, we don't see atheists committing acts of terrorism against society. When was the last time an atheist suicide-bombed a hospital? Or crashed a plane into a building? Studies have shown that atheist-dominated nations in the world today are the least violent. On the flip-side countries that are the most religious tend to be the most violent. It is obvious certain religious beliefs (not naming names) can cause intolerance and hatred of others (a paranoia, really).
An atheist can disagree with someone without believing they will will burn in hell. Atheists are freer to understand why people do the things they do. Atheists are freer to see the ignorance of humanity. For someone to claim that religious belief has no impact on behavior is just plain wrong, and as stated earlier, societies with less religion seem to be less violent. An atheistic world is less divisive for sure.
In response to your question "When was the last time an atheist suicide-bombed a hospital? Or crashed a plane into a building?" -
ReplyDeleteThere have been a number of atheist terrorist groups. Examples include the Shining Path in Peru, the Baader-Meinhoff gang in Germany, etc.
"Religion causes war and violence" was a good argument for atheism about 100 years ago, but after Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot, among others, it has become obsolete.