I see a lot of "enlightened" types extolling the evils of religion and of those religious people who would force their beliefs on others. As far as that goes, they are, of course, right. This is a real problem, and the entire war on terrorism is currently firmly founded in this phenomenon.

Yet, the concept of those who would force their views on others is a lot broader than this, and many "enlightened" people who are contemptuous of religion have a large blind spot there.

It is a fact that, looking at sheer numbers, the atrocities and violations of individual rights visited on this planet by self-proclaimed atheist regimes exceed all the religious atrocities in history by an order of magnitude.

This is not excusing one or the other, or making one or the other "worse" on an individual basis. It matters little to a victim if he is being executed by the Inquisition, an Islamist kangaroo court, or a People's Tribunal.

It's looking at the whole picture, and facing the painful truth that removing religion from life is no guarantee at all of a world of peace and harmony. A lot of people who turn from conventional religion quickly make gods of men and human philosophies, and we have seen the results.

A mature human condition needs to get past all versions of philosophical collectivism. Good luck...my own theory is that it's bred in the primate species.

Incidentally, I find people that are highly defensive of either their religion or their lack of it are often having issues with the security of their stance.