Originally Posted by Mutt

From my reading it has become apparent to me that the ancient Israelites, the group that invented monotheism and an omnipotent creator/king of the universe, were brilliant. The development of their religion, Judaism, was much more about politics than spirituality. They were a semi-nomadic tribe in lands surrounded by powerful empires constantly at war vying for more land and resources. Their religion is what they used to bind their people to the cause of nationhood, they had nothing else. In the Torah/Bible, every other group of people in Canaan are painted as their wicked and evil enemies.

Atheists don't seem to understand or can't admit to themselves that their freedom of thought was made possible by centuries of progress and stability that Christianity brought throughout Europe and then the New World. They aren't the intellectuals they think they are today without the influence of religion and they can mock religion all they want but much of who they are and what they think comes from religion, it's in the air from the moment we're born.

We may be at a point in our development that religion is no longer necessary but we'd not have reached this stage without it.