I don't know if anyone made this point already, but the beauty of secularism is that it allows a plurality of viewpoints and perspectives.
I support free thinking. That means religious thinking, nonreligious thinking, anti-religious thinking... every kind of thinking. People have the right to use (and misuse) their minds in whatever way they see fit. I don't think that religion is necessarily harmful to society--religion in control is harmful to society. It is a mark of good health to find a variety of viewpoints among a given population.
I might admire a society in which a majority rejects God's existence, but only in such a case that the people came to that realization themselves. If they were coerced into such a belief, I wouldn't have any admiration for the society at all.
I support free thinking. That means religious thinking, nonreligious thinking, anti-religious thinking... every kind of thinking. People have the right to use (and misuse) their minds in whatever way they see fit. I don't think that religion is necessarily harmful to society--religion in control is harmful to society. It is a mark of good health to find a variety of viewpoints among a given population.
I might admire a society in which a majority rejects God's existence, but only in such a case that the people came to that realization themselves. If they were coerced into such a belief, I wouldn't have any admiration for the society at all.