Atheism Cures Religious Terrorism

We've seen "Atheism Cures Religious Terrorism" bumper stickers from time to time and the idea rings true to us because, sadly, a lot of violence, terror, pain, and injustice is caused by religion. For example, some religious beliefs cause human beings to do these types of things:

• Hate others who don't believe what they do.
• Demonize gay people and other groups.
• Fail to listen to reason, evidence, or facts.
• Believe in supernatural beings.
• Believe in science in every part of their lives except for when it comes to god.
• Wage war over beliefs.
• Events like the Inquisition.
• Keep women down.
• Shun people who have left the religion, even their own children.
• Hit their kids because it's "in the holy book."
• Behave with intolerance and bigotry.
• Tell people to commit terrorist acts in the name of a god.
• Asks people to not think too much or question anything.
• Demand blind faith and fealty from their followers, threaten them with eternal damnation if they don't follow.
• Tell people not to worry about what they do in this lifetime because there's another life after this one, which permits people to do horrible things in the real world with a guarantee they'll get a reward from their god as long as they follow him.
• Create an "us vs. them" mentality which leads to conflict.
• Not accept other beliefs or perspectives.
• Chastise the the poor and vulnerable in the name of god.

We could compile of list of hundreds of negative things that religion causes on a daily basis and has caused throughout history. It's strange to atheists how religious people can believe in a system that causes so much pain, it just makes no sense.

So, does atheism cure terrorism? Probably, because without it you wouldn't have a whole belief system egging you on and sanctioning horrible behavior. When you move beyond religion and learn to think for yourself like atheists do, you value reason and you're less likely to do awful things in the name of a god. You also care a lot more about how you treat people in this, the only life you'll ever have.