There is an interesting article by John Gray on the 'fears' of 'evangelical atheists' who cannot see a decline (http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/03/what-scares-the-new-atheists). One of its major thrusts is that atheists are wrong when they think that the default position of most of 'humanity' would include a dropping of religions if they were'freed' from coercion. He suggests that it does no good to talk about the wars driven by religious considerations (in deed, he points out a number of horrors attributed to 'muscular' atheism). I must admit to having some sympathies with many of the views expressed. There is a danger that atheism becomes a kind of religion, especially if its proponents think that people would obviously benefit if they were weaned away from their more traditional beliefs. This, of course, means that science educators have to tread a very narrow line.
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