To the extent that a church or temple is a social club, it's not a religion, so it's not relevant to my article. I'm talking about the con of religious beliefs. If old people have religious beliefs to make them feel better about death, and those beliefs are being exploited by religious leaders such as televangelists, they're being conned in the way I lay out. The old believers may be grateful for the false hope, but the religion looks like a fraud as far as anyone can tell.
You fall back on a number of cliches that have been dealt with countless times by atheists. There are lots of secular charities. But even if there were none, the best way to deal with poverty and hardship is through scientific, technological, and moral advancements which are all secular. Millions of people have been lifted out of crushing poverty not through charities but through advances in medical technology which are scientific and antithetical to the religious mindset.
You only caricature atheism or secular humanism, and knock down a strawman when you suggest that atheists can't be good without God or that the greatest atheists are dictators. That's only a Pyrrhic victory for you, at best. It means nothing and impresses no one who's read a book or two.
Yes, most art from the past has been religious. That's because the societies were theocracies, not because religious subjects make for the best artistic inspirations. Artists in theocracies had no choice but to incorporate religion into their works; otherwise the rulers wouldn't have paid them or allowed them to finish.
The real world uncovered by science makes for a majestic source of art. Think of the deep time of evolution, the sublime scale of the universe, the universe's self-creation, the nobility and heroism of our existential revolt against the horrific and absurd wilderness, the marvels of the human brain, the fragility and preciousness of life. Artists could have been helping their societies deal with our real existential predicament instead of wasting time on fairytales and religious fantasies.
What should we be doing instead of dwelling on a fake afterlife to benefit a cynical religious organization? How about making the world a better place? How about realizing the dream of optimistic science fiction writers? How about fulfilling our creative potential?
