Great question. Although I am prepared to challenge any opinion presented as factual that isn’t also backed up by evidence and critical thinking, I also recognize that there are many people who find solace in religion that they can’t find anywhere else. I like your metaphor of crutches. None of us has the right to ‘knock them away.’ I also believe we do ourselves, as a world community of “nones” (no religion), a disservice if we become militant in our behavior and our interaction with those who ‘believe.’

However, I am very concerned that organized religion, in the U.S. And around the world, is at war with those of us who do not believe. They have inserted themselves into politics in a huge way while many of us have accepted the meme that “you don’t discuss religion and politics.’ They are attacking secularists, LGBT, and others who they do not understand (and make no effort to understand). Many of them have a perpetual disdain for women, people of color and others. The fundamentalists are the most worrisome - especially the huge, well-organized and financially wealthy Southern Baptist Convention.

Some fundamentalists have gone as far as to declare war against all non-believers. Jerry Falwell, in particular, had declared war on secularists and formed the Moral Majority for the sole purpose of taking a political offensive. He was very successful. Pat Robertson formed the Christian Coalition, focused on electoral victories and lobbying. He too has been very successful. Others have called for a holy war against secularists and quite literally, want to run the country. It is curious that these are typically the same people who denounce Islamic “Sharia Law,” not recognizing (or caring?) that the realization of their goals would create a Christian “Sharia Law.”

The good news is: “The Christian share of the U.S. population is declining, while the number of U.S. adults who do not identify with any organized religion is growing, according to an extensive new survey by the Pew Research Center. ” Pew Research Center

But we must not let our guard down. “Christians” practically run the Republican Party in the U.S and their power in our government has been prominent and very influential for decades. It isn’t likely to change anytime soon, even as more people are falling away from their religion. It is, therefore, our patriotic duty, IMO, to challenge the broader issues of religion in politics and the specific social issues for which the ‘religious’ want to take us back decades, or even centuries.

We must attack the issues, not the individuals… except perhaps, the leaders of their efforts.