in areas of the world where a religion is in sole control of the government, including christianity in a historical context, non-belief is often punishable, and sometimes by death.

being openly atheist carries a potential death penalty in I think 13 countries right now, but I haven't researched that number recently so I'm not claiming it for a fact. In Saudi Arabia, being an avowed (open) atheist can carry a charge of terrorism.

in areas where "most religious people" aren't willing to take it to that extreme, you usually find a secular government with no ties to religion, or only a lip-service tie to religion, such as in England.

I've never heard anyone, ever, say "there is no God, and if you believe in one I'll kill you". ergo, atheism is better for society than religion, regardless of the percentage of believers who agree with killing atheists or believers of other faiths.

Most mainstream theologies in developed nations only have a small outlier of the population that believes this fervently. It's the nations that are less developed and possessing tribal communities, where this is a problem.

Why is it we never hear apologetic arguments being put forth by religious types when it comes to Atheists? Oh he's alright, most Atheists are extreme in their views and we should be understanding and accepting of their lack of belief in my imaginary friend. You just never hear that.

Only the most dedicated from a very small number of religions would kill, it seems to me, in order to prove that their God is superior. A search of the data, collected by many organizations, on the number of religiously motivated murders and terror attacks reveals the unsurprising fact that the vast majority of perpetrators claim Islam as their faith and that they acted in accordance to that faith, and that the victims of such attacks are more likely to claim Islam as THEIR faith.

Sometimes yes, But not always. Though we may disagree with theist, It is important that we do not throw them in all one basket or make generalizations that are simply not true. Most of the Christians I know simply want to convert me to believe their mythology.

they don't actually kill people to prove their god exists. they kill people for something they think their stupid fictional god wants. they do not feel it necessary to prove anything.

g