When I was younger I was one of those annoying atheists who hated all religion and wanted it eradicated. As I got older I see that religious beliefs help society, and organised religion is the issue (as with all organisations of humans, someone wants to be at the top, and others have to suffer for this to happen.)

Now I'm even older I see religion as a vehicule of human values that have been passed along for the last 2000 years in the west if we're talking about Christian values, and I don't know how long Muslim values have been passed along. You can tell there are similarities in cultures based on the religious texts they've based their civilisations around.

Fascinating from the historical / archeological perspective. I remain atheist, but welcome religions which stay separate from the state and do not reduce people's freedoms nor promote hate towards certain groups.