Capitalism is the issue, not religion

I offer my condolences to the family and friends of Deah Barakat, Yusor Abu-Salha, and Razan Abu-Salha, killed February 10th in a Chapel Hill neighborhood located in Durham County.

Initially there were suggestions that this crime was motivated by atheist intolerance of Islam, though there is also evidence that the accused shooter was not especially anti-Islam. Whatever the facts turn out to be in this case, I find what could be called atheist fundamentalists misguided and extreme. Some atheists seem to think the main problem in the world is religion, as if it is religion that causes violence and ignorance, rather than capitalist unequal development and oppression by the US and other imperialists and their local proxies. In many cases, if people were more religious about following the pro-social aspects of their religion, the world would probably be better off. Activists with a religious ideology, such as Catholic Workers and Quakers, are some of the most dedicated anti-imperialists and social justice advocates in North Carolina, more so than much of the secular Left, even the Marxist Left. They are more active than I am, though some of what they do is paid non-profit work. Resisting imperialist capitalism is more important than fighting religion in the US, though it may be a more important issue in countries where religion dominates society, and it is foolish to unnecessarily alienate religious people by arguing over theology.