I used to be a militant atheist. I have some Facebook notes from a few years back which are pretty hard nosed when it comes to the beliefs of Christians. I am much more relaxed and unconcerned with what other people believe nowadays. I still think that the type of thinking promoted by most religions is harmful to the forward, informed thinking that is necessary for the general populace to possess if we are to progress as a society. Science and technological advances are things to be celebrated and supported. But when there is a certain undercurrent of society that is deeply skeptical and resistive to these new ideas, it hampers progress and sometimes regresses into silly debates over reproductive rights of women, over whether established scientific theories (evolution) are actually valid despite decades of supporting evidence, etc etc.

Basically, the problem with society nowadays is ignorance. People think that democracy applies to everything, not just politics. Facts, beliefs, ideas, everything in their minds is subject to approval. But facts exist whether you approve of them or not. In the words of one of my favorite authors, Isaac Asimov,

"There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there always has been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.' "