I'm all for equality of discourse, and I have been annoyed beyond reason by the faith-based everything of the Bush administration. The endgame of this particular belief system seems to involve heavily armed bigots destroying the world, and I still haven't been to Italy, so if Richard Dawkins has got my back on that one, God bless him. I mean, may he enjoy prosperity.

But there's one idea that comes up in these discussions that I want to talk about; it's the notion that "religion is responsible for most of the war and suffering in the world," or however it's phrased. You know, the Crusades, the Inquisition, colonialism cloaked in Christianity, bigotry against women cloaked in Islam or Hinduism -- the list is pretty long.

I don't believe that it's religion's fault. I believe that human nature is responsible for war and torture and intolerance. I believe that we are beasts, and that every institution we set up reflects our bestial nature. If we drag God into it, it's because we feel shame for our actions. "Sure, seems bad to kill babies, but God told me to do it, so it must be OK."

But we are also more than beasts. At the core of every religion are notions of peace and grace and understanding. Is there hypocrisy? Sure -- hypocrisy is as human as love or murder. But hypocrisy is not all there is. There are good works, plenty of them -- selfless behavior, charity, devotion. Of course you don't need to believe in God to have those virtues, but religion can serve as an organizing principle to make these virtues manifest on Earth. [emphasis added]

Religion also provides rituals, and humans find solace in ritual. Maybe it's all a lie, blah blah blah, but how can solace be bad? How can comfort be evil? Man, shut up and listen to the music; be still and smell the flowers. There's room here for all of us; atheists, of all people, should understand that point.