While theism can have some favorable effects, I think at best it's a crutch so that one doesn't have to deal with reality. And while I'm not of the opinion that anyone should be persecuted or discriminated against for what amounts to simply thoughts, I do think that it interferes with the progression of society and science, even when it comes to those who are "passively" religious. When a thought becomes a belief, it's hard to change, and that rigidity of thought hinders the very imagination and inquisitiveness that propels us forward. When one thinks they already have the answers, and has an emotional connection to the belief that provides those answers, the resistance to do anything to jeopardize those comfortable/comforting beliefs is strong. Not saying that never has a theist contributed to science. That's obviously not the case. But, as we see in the US, the almost complete rejection of science is all religiously based. Imagine if all of those people embraced science, as well as all of those throughout time who did all they could to silence the scientific community; there's no telling what we might have accomplished by now.

I do, on some level, agree with your statement about not interfering as much with the "present" generation in religiously saturated communities that are functioning successfully and benignly. Forcing atheism won't do any good, and the older a person is, the less likely they are to abandon a belief system that they've lived with for forty, fifty, or sixty-plus years. HOWEVER, that doesn't mean we can't still calmly and respectfully explain our points of view. There are those that will be open to atheism if presented with a reasonable argument. And after all, it's difficult to foster a new, more freethinking generation if so much of the older generation and whole communities are still so indoctrinated. The problem with those communities is that so many young people grow up within them thinking that non-belief isn't an option. They need to know that it is, indeed, an option.

I'm not even going to address extremism, because we all know the danger of that and that it is basically inevitable within any religion as long as that religion has some level of prominence. (I mean.... when was the last time we really heard about a Wiccan extremist attacking someone?)

I apologize if my thoughts on this topic are a little... disjointed. I'm typing this at 5:30 AM.