".... That is the point - extreme application of any sort of religous belief is not so hot, but relatively few people are extremists ..."
Atheism or the absence of a belief in an 'invisible, omnipotent, omnipresent friend in the sky' is not a religion . Anything Stalin did while invoking atheism, wasn't atheism. Putative atheism as in the flavor popularized by Madeline Murray O'Hara, is just another religion, she and Stalin would have been good pals or even lovers
. She needed everyone to think the way she did. She needed everyone to believe that something which is not proven to exist, does not exist. On the other hand, I just think everyone (who isn't my family or friend) is a sorry sad sack for wasting any of their valuable time on religion when they could focus that segment of their time and intellect on endeavors valuable to them and others.
Some people who believe that there is a god are the worst sort of pussies in the vein of Pascal.
http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/theism/wager.html That the Pascal lie is still given respect after 300 some years speaks volumes. There is no honor in that. You either sincerely believe in the invisible omnipotent omnipresent friend or you don't. The simplest reflection reveals that such a friend (if it existed) would understand your false motive of belief.
---Al
