It's not about religion, it's about hierarchy, especially non-consensual hierarchy. If my faith exercises no authority over others without their consent, I see no problem with it.

There's this fantasy, especially among educated, atheists that religion is somehow a unique force of evil and that if we all got rid of it, we could all live in some kind of harmony. This ignores the inherently complicated nature of religion and spiritual practice and the tremendous amount of comfort religion has done.

Anyone who says religion is universally bad should take it up with the slaves who used religion as a way to survive the horrifying abuse imposed on them by their masters.

Anyone who says that atheism is the path to freedom from oppression should take a trip to the Soviet Union, circa 1950.

When people have authority over non-consenting others and are able to use force to restrict their autonomy, that's when abuse occurs. It could be a religious institution, a state government, or a private business.

Also, I just want to throw out there the irony of Penn and Teller lecturing *anyone* about being 'holier than thou.'

Blessings

~ND