General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Kick if you agree with this assessment about the influence of religion on people. [View all]NuclearDem
(16,184 posts)It's absolutely true that different forms of bigotry run rampant in atheist and secularist circles, particularly Islamophobia and misogyny (Dawkins is more than guilty of both, in fact). Bigotry is not exclusively for the faithful.
But it's still a pretty far cry from "religious people are stupid" to ethnic cleansing. A lot of the anti-religious fervor among atheists stems from anger, betrayal, and fear--that they were lied to by people they trusted, that they see people they care about being deceived and psychologically abused, and that they're on the receiving end of dehumanization and otherizing at the hands of people with a lot of power and influence. That anger is understandable. This is also a world where apostasy is punishable by death in certain places, and by ostracizing and shaming in others.
But ethnic cleansing or genocide are not even necessary when it comes to undermining faith or eradicating the ignorance of religion. Education is doing that just fine. More and more people of my generation are beginning to either doubt or outright reject the existence of God as they go through higher education.