As I may have mentioned, I am an atheist - I have no belief in gods or godesses, or indeed imaginary friends of any sort.
And over the years I have been getting less and less tolerant of those who do feel that the presence some friendly, ghostly spirit at their elbow helps them through the day, not because I think they're dumb (although some are - just look at the American fundamentalist churches) but because religion does seem to make people do bad things; to themselves, to their children, to their family and anyone who doesn't share their beliefs.

To themselves - restricting their sexuality - either by being celibate or heterosexual when by instinct they're homosexual. Self-flagellation, very popular with Muslims, but big with some catholics too. Why?

To their children - starting with genital mutilation; chopping off essential parts of the male and female sexual anatomy in the belief that their imaginary friend dislikes sex, and in many cases doing it without medical supervision or pain relief. No civilised society should countenance this cruel practice, anyone caught performing it should be locked up - with the parents... And then there's faith schools. I would be a lot more impressed with religious belief if it didn't start with small children being inculcated into the faith from right from the start with blunt propaganda and narrow teaching of only the correct views... Wouldn't it be more impressive if people turned to god when they were old enough to make this important decision themselves, rather than having it hammered into them, with the options discreetly glossed over.

To their family - well, honour killings, arranged marriages, enforced polygamy, blah, blah...

People who don't share their beliefs - I'm sure that I don't have to point out all the misery that has been caused in the name of one invisible friend or another - but the Northern Irish conflicts, the Holocaust, partition of India, 9/11, the crusades etc etc.

Isn't it time that we had the courage to question the validity of religion in a modern society, the misappropriation of morality to religion and the continued role of religion in education and government? A good start would be ensuring that no more faith schools are instituted and that existing one's are carefully phased out of the public system. If you had to pay for your kids morning prayers, I suspect that many people wouldn't!