Let me start this by saying that I fundamentally do not give the slightest shit in the abstract if someone decides they are going to adhere to any particular religious doctrine or believe in one of the countless mythologies that comprise that body of information collectively referred to as the world’s religions. Essentially, belief is a private thing, and it really shouldn’t matter to anyone what other people do or don’t believe.
Well, except that it does. The sad fact is, religious beliefs, while apparently comforting to many people, are also the source of many problems, both large and small. Take, for example, elections to public office. There remains today, in the year 2012, despite advances in science that essentially make the notion ridiculous, the disturbing reality that, in the USA, a person who is intelligent and qualified, but also openly an atheist, will most likely lose an election in most places to someone who is a complete and utter buffoon, wholly unqualified for the office in contention, but who believes that the earth was created 3000 years ago or whatever their fucking bible says.
The reason for this, as far as I can tell, is that religion not only offers explanations for things, but purports to be the ultimate answer to everything. Thus, religious adherents naturally feel that someone whose faith differs from theirs is, by default, unqualified to lead, since ‘god’ is the actual leader and someone not following this god is naturally going to take us in the wrong direction. As quaint and nonsensical as that sounds, it is the way things currently are, and will always be if we allow religion to continue holding the power it does over our societies.
Rabid Goon - Supreme Arbiter of Truth 