I think that something a lot of militant atheist/agnostic folks seem to forget is exactly why people cling to religion in the first place: they're scared. Growing up in a household that had alcoholism, violence, and eventually homelessness, I can say the reason I clang to religion as a child was because I was truly and completely terrified of the world. Reassurance that, in the end, no matter how horrifying my life was I would see a place of great peace and security when I die was tantalizing to the point of obsession. Another example: I work in a nursing home as an aide. One of the residents I work with has late stage alzheimers, and lives in a constant state of anxiety and fear. When she's not telling us she's scared she's praying the rosary. She's retreating to the one thing in her life that gave her consistency and security as her mind deteriorates, which isn't exclusive to her situation. One could argue that fear of hell is another great decider of whether one is religious, but in my experience that's much less common than the desire for security. Point being, I think the means by which militant atheists/agnostics combat theocracy and ignorance is poorly done. They don't empathise with the true nature of why people are religious. They just assume that the religious person is stupid or beyond reach. I make the assertion, and have found success in reaching out to religious people (mainly young people suffering from depression) and showing them that there are other ways to fight the terror that is known as real life. I counsel them on ways to combat stress and fear by focussing on improving themselves for their own sake as opposed to hoping an invisible force will improve them when they acknowledge he is their lord and savior. I put emphasis on learning about the universe and how things work through observation instead of how a very old book tells them. Granted, it's infinitely easier to apply this to the young rather than the old, but you see my point. If we use empathy as a means of determining how we approach educating a religious person rather than just ignoring them or deeming them too stupid to think straight, we'll find much more success when trying to combat the theocracy and ignorance that's infiltrating our culture.
