This guy’s an American philosopher and an atheist. He has a BA in Philosophy from Cornell University, a BPhil from the University of Oxford, and a PhD in philosophy from Harvard University. He has an interesting perspective...
“In speaking of the fear of religion, I don’t mean to refer to the entirely reasonable hostility toward certain established religions and religious institutions, in virtue of their objectionable moral doctrines, social policies, and political influence. Nor am I referring to the association of many religious beliefs with superstition and the acceptance of evident empirical falsehoods. I am talking about something much deeper–namely, the fear of religion itself. I speak from experience, being strongly subject to this fear myself: I want atheism to be true and am made uneasy by the fact that some of the most intelligent and well-informed people I know are religious believers. It isn’t just that I don’t believe in God and, naturally, hope that I’m right in my belief. It’s that I hope there is no God! I don’t want there to be a God; I don’t want the universe to be like that.” - Thomas Nagel
Well, if you stop and actually contemplate the ideas most religions, and all the major ones have, it's pretty scary stuff.
Christianity has the whole "believe or burn" thing going on. The idea that someone who did heinous things, but then found Jesus is saved, yet someone who (possibly without even knowing who Jesus was) lives by all the "rules" in the bible but doesn't "believe" burns forever doesn't make an objective observer jump in line to worship.
It's almost as if the "it's not your actions, but your conformity" thing is about control.......
