A few more quotes that I liked on the topic. These are less about what I believe, and more about how religion should more be recognized as. I’m an agnostic, by the way.

“I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.”

–Stephen Roberts

“If there is a God, atheism must seem to Him as less of an insult than religion.”

–Edmond and Jules de Goncour

“A thorough reading and understanding of the Bible is the surest path to atheism”

–Donald Morgan

“It is usually when men are at their most religious that they behave with the least sense and the greatest cruelty.”

–Ilka Chase

“I say quite deliberately that the Christian religion, as organized in its churches, has been and still is the principal enemy of moral progress in the world.”

–Bertrand Russell

“I don’t want to see any religious people in public office because they’re working for another boss.”

–Frank Zappa

And this last one is for fun:

“It’s hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.”

–Calvin, in “Calvin and Hobbes” by Bill Waterson

Addendum: Interesting. I just looked up the 2000 census numbers, and apparently, the fastest-growing belief system is… “No Religion/Atheist/Agnostic.” Christians dropped from 88.3% of the population in 1990 to 79.8% in 2000; the fastest-growing Christian group is “non-denominational Christians” (+2.5%), with “non-denominational ‘other’ religions” following close behind (+1.2%).

But “No Religion/Atheist/Agnostic” grew from 8.4% of the population in 1990 to fully 15% in 2000–more than doubling in just a decade. The “no religion” crowd apparently clusters mostly in the northwest, with the greatest number being in Washington state, fully 25% of the population. I wonder how that will look in 2010…