Atheism is all about controlling people. Divide and conquer, break up religious communities so that nothing can stand in the way of the state.

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"Those who turn swords into plowshares will do the plowing for those who do not" - Anon

"A fear of weapons is a sign of retarded emotional and mental development" - Sigmund Freud

Atheism *can* be used that way -- the Soviet Union did that, for example -- but religion is used that way, too. And except for movements like Communism, atheists are far less organized than most religions.

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Man up.

Granted. Religion can be used that way too. In my opinion the Catholic Church is/was a good example of that. But just like Communism does not invalidate Secularism in general, neither does misused religion condemn all or even any forms of belief.

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"Those who turn swords into plowshares will do the plowing for those who do not" - Anon

"A fear of weapons is a sign of retarded emotional and mental development" - Sigmund Freud

Agreed. But you were the one making sweeping statements about (non)belief.

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Man up.

Yeah, but my sweeping statement was in response t othe sweeping statement of the original poster.

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"Those who turn swords into plowshares will do the plowing for those who do not" - Anon

"A fear of weapons is a sign of retarded emotional and mental development" - Sigmund Freud

Religion is an instrument for the social control of the masses.

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Theodore Lamar Heiks
BA, History/Political Science, Western State College, 1984
MBA, Entrepreneurship/Marketing, City University, 1993

As an antitheist I do not believe in any form of afterlife, when you die you're worm food, and, unlike so called "believers", I KNOW I am right. I believe that many "believers" would think the same if they had the guts to take the step. Trouble is many people have been so brainwashed by the state and church that they think that if they take the step they will (or might) be condemned to "eternal (*)(*)(*)(*)ation". There are parts of the world (including parts of America) where if you made such a statement you would be ostracised or worse, indeed, in Britain's recent history atheism was punishable by death.
It saddens me that even though I am tolerant of believers (even though I think them brainwashed) this is not reciprocated ie if a religion took took over the running of this country I would be "put against a wall", does it not say something that the church is so intolerant of non believers and is so violent toward them. Before you say that this will never happen there are parts of the world where people are murdered for their religious beliefs or non belief now.
What really angers me is the fact that the church, whatever church, retains such power and is willing to abuse this power to remain in control.
I am currently in a minority, but surely, other people will work out that the church does not have the power that it thinks it has and, even though it will threaten hell and (*)(*)(*)(*)ation, it will gradually lose it's choking grip on the world.

Most "believers" KNOW they're right too. Seems you're at a stalemate.
I personally don't know if I'll simply be wormfood or if my energies will be recycled through reincarnation. Either way I KNOW that I will continue on in some form in the cycle of nature. Who knows? There may be some other life after this. I don't KNOW that much.
Has it ever occurred to you that the idea of no afterlife is as ridiculous to "believers" as the idea of afterlife is to you?

Democratic society has indeed progressed since those days. These days the worst you get is hounded by evangelists. Oh well. Tend to be nice people if you can get around their zeal. At least we don't live in a Middle Eastern theocracy. Then we would be dead.

It happens in areas where religion is synonomous with government. The US and Europe have long abandoned that. If it comes back, it would require a lot of nasty social changes to take place. The US, despite being 70% Christian and 90% religious, is largely for the separation of church and state. The wouldbe theocrats are a fringe group hated by most of the country.
You'd find more tolerance if you didn't dismiss religionists as brainwashed. Brainwashing assumes some dark motive and a plot to reorganize someone;s mind. Religion is socialized into the young and chosen by older people. Even cults do not brainwash in the way people picture it.
The fact that you dismiss them as brainwashed doesn't make you intolerant, but it does show a lack of respect. You cannot expect respect from them in turn.

The Church doesn't really have much power anymore. People leave churches all the time. They just tend to go to other religions when they do so. Religion is a consumer-driven market. At least in the democratic world, religion is not forced on people. It is seeked out by people. Religion fulfills people's needs. Call it weak if you like. But people have spiritual needs.
Look deeper in yourself and you'll probably find you're no different.

Religious persecution is terrible... and there are still some that take out their anger using religion and ethnicity as a determinant even in the Westernized modern world. But they do not represent the whole of religion.
Religion can be for good or evil. I suppose it depends on what people feel they need. Some people feel the need to be exclusive and seperate from the sinful world... It sounds like you might be falling into this grouping, despite your very disdain for it.

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"It's never over... BOY!"
The Tall Man, Phantasm III

Contrary to the proverb, it is not for the love of money, but religion that is the root of all evil.

In that context, the two are one in the same. The love of money creates evil when it causes you to cross any bounds to gain access to it. Religion creates evil when you would cross any bound to meet a need to be part of a superior group. Either way, when taken to extreme there is suffering and death. Either way there is something not getting to the wielder of evil about the worth of virtue and compassion on their own merit.
The two variables are also similar in that they influence attempts to destroy them that are just as counterproductive to humanity.

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"It's never over... BOY!"
The Tall Man, Phantasm III