It is a fascinating, horrifying, and grotesque fact that those who are most religious are more easily able to rationalize what they have done.
In country after country, without regard to the prevailing religion, calls to commit or justify horrible acts are couched in the terms of god and nation.
To ask an atheist to do something horrible requires you to convince that person to override their personal moral compass. To ask a religious person to do so only requires that you convince them that what you are asking is god's will. And it isn't possible for them to ask that god if the interpretation is correct.
I think, also, there is a definite difference between religious people and non-religious people with respect to their willingness to challenge authority and to resist being led.
If you are one of those who goes to your Sunday morning seat to have someone tell you what is right, what is wrong, what is good, what is evil, and ask you to bow down and worship your lord (and lets not forget that words like lord and king and kingdom are not exactly neutral words) then you are far more likely to follow King George or King Tony or King Adolph.
Anarchy isn't a picnic and I am not advocating it. But blindly following the self-anointed is a proven recipe for war and destruction.
