God: No magic required

[robvalue]

What this "certitude"? Atheists don't claim any kind of certainty. That is the sole claim of (many) theists. See my post here: http://atheistforums.org/thread-29499.html

There is indirect harm cause by anyone who spreads any kind of religious or "woo" ideas. I'm not saying it's something that's easily measurable, or that everyone who does this is equally accountable, but it is real.

The more people hear about this stuff, the more credibility it gets. The more validation people feel if they already hold these beliefs, and the more likely people will get sucked into it. There is a sad common misconception that the more people who hold a view, the more likely it is to be true. Although this is nonsense, a lot of people believe it. The easier it is for the conmen and parasites who benefit from it and exploit people to keep on doing it.

So my point is that any spread of religion/woo is in some way "propping up" (great term I nicked from The Atheist Experience) religion, the harm it causes, and indoctrination of children. If you take away the passive supporters, the core belief becomes much harder to defend and the harm becomes more apparent and vulnerable. The best you can say is you're causing very little harm, as such things are not immediately visible.

Also, "beliefs inform actions" (Matt Dillahunty) so you can never be sure that your actions are not more harmful, or less helpful, than they would be without more accurate beliefs.