Could atheist westerners, please explain?

[abaris]

Secularism can, though... So I side with that. In our ever more connected society, we need some people who look at long term goals, even while some still squat around in their petty local regimes and fight each other over which of them should have possession of a small patch of land.

An ideal. How often did an ideal come to be? Reality has shown us that every idea, good as it may seem, can be turned into an ideology. And ideologies tend to enforce their way.

You already presented one example. Anarchism. Communism would be a second. The ideal of everyone sharing and noone falling behind, looks good on the outside. Reality however has taught us a different lesson. You can bet your ass, it would be the same with secularism, if it doesn't grow but is enforced.