I'm an atheist and as such hold the believe that religion, even the vage concept of a creator is distructive to the mind. Simply because it is something that resembles an answer, without any informative value. That said, i'm not in the business to tell others what to believe.
Mainly because i think atheism is not for everyone. It is a depressing though to think that this life is all we have but it doesn't really matter, because there is ultimately no purpose to it anyways.
So I think that religious believes have the purpose to make a meaningless life a bit more bearable. And yet I think that it is hugely important to have some of us skeptics around. I think that progress is a product of the inquisitive and unfulfilled mind. In the end the skeptics do the human race a great service everyone can benefit from.
As I said, i'm not in the business of telling people what to believe, but in the hopes, some of the more agile minds around me, still clouded by some sort of quick-fix answer, but allready unhappy with it, can be persuaded to step one tiny step further. If "hope" is gone anyways, the "message" of the meaningless universe doesn't hurt that much. And a freed mind, driven by the pure frustration of this sad excuse of a universe, will set out and try to make it better.
No one in his or her right mind should want to be an atheist. Even if you are one by nature you should try to work against it. Hate it. Until the meaninglessness once again hits you over the head. Thomas Edison did a pretty good job in keeping his drive while being an outspoken atheist. You'd say he was successful because he was an atheist. I don't know. I'd say in his case it came with the territory :)
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