Problems Religion Causes in the World

As atheists, we are aware of a number of problems religion causes in the world. Here is a list of some of the main issues from our perspective:

• Us vs. them mentality. It's our religion against all others; our religion is right, theirs is wrong; anyone who doesn't follow our beliefs is evil. These types of points of view lead to conflict, dehumanization, and even war. When you delegitimize another group, it's much easier to commit atrocities against them.
• Exclusionary behavior. Shunning or putting down people your religion doesn't agree with or deem acceptable, even in your own family.
• Acting superior. Religions often have a "we're the chosen ones" or "we're more special than others" attitude that doesn't really lead to wanting to get along with others.
• Prejudice. Anti-gay sentiment, anti-feminism, anti-so-many-things. Religions preach inclusion but often practice exclusion.
• A reward, even if, or especially if, you're bad. Many religions give their followers a free pass as long as they're members. Think in terms of religious people who do bad things to others or even kill in the name of their religion because they're certain they'll be going to a special place after they die, regardless of their actions.
• Mistrust of science. Science is a threat to magical thinking and supernatural beings, so religions fight against it even though science is the single most reliable way of finding out the truth about the world around us and benefits our lives in innumerable ways.
• Theocracy. Many religions have no problem running their governments as religious institutions, which doesn't bode well for equality, dissent, critical thinking, civil rights, or democracy.
• Belief in imaginary beings. When people don't believe in real things, they can believe anything for any reason, including on faith. This affects decision making in the real world. 
• Apocalyptic mentality. If the world is going to come to a fiery end anyway, there's no point to being nice to people or caring about others or the planet in this lifetime.
• Monopoly on the truth. Religious people believe their god gives them the absolute truth, which leaves no room for other points of view.
• Controlling people. Religion is set up to control people's behavior and keep them in the flock. This leads to people who don't think for themselves and do awful things just because their religion tells them to.
• They pretend their religions are about love. Many religious people assert their religions are about love and then live lives rife with bigotry, intolerance, and hatred.

Religious people will argue that these are things that people do, not god. The problem with that argument is that these things are being done by people who profess to follow a religion, not by people who are unaffiliated with the religion. It's like atheists saying that only the good people who are atheists are actually atheists. As atheists, we are affected by religion every day, and often in very negative ways.