Imagine there’s no heaven. If there were no heaven do you think right-wing fundamentalists would feel that it was their duty to dictate their religious beliefs to the rest of the world based on narrow interpretations of their holy book? Do you think we would have theocracies being controlled by a dominate religious party? Do you think extremists would use rigid laws and violence to force their morality on others? Would needless wars continue to be fought in the name of a religious nation and their faith? Would these fundamentalists be better stewards of our environment for the future of our children? Do these extremists see beyond their own apocalyptic eschatology? Many of them think that we are living in the last days; therefore they don’t feel any obligation to prepare for the future or view world events in a long term context. The result is; ignore science and the future, keep spending and piling up endless debt and using all the earths’ natural resources because it just doesn’t matter. God is coming back and life as we know it will be over. Don’t worry, be happy. When a religion promises follower’s an afterlife of opulence, health, paradise, streets of gold and 72 virgins if they sacrifice themselves in holy war, how does one reason with them? Is religion being used as a destructive force in our world? Maybe the secular humanists are right. If this life is all we have we would take more responsibility for our fellow humans and our children’s future. Maybe we would treasure this life more and live in such a way as to demonstrate true morality and altruism. Maybe.