Ticking Time Bomb

There are millions of people on the planet that believe in one deity or another and that their deity is the only one out there; that everyone else is not only mistaken, but needs to be told they are mistaken or even slaughtered for not realizing it.

I am no psychic. In fact, it would take a lot for me to even believe in that kind of thing anymore, but with the rising numbers of members in Islam, the increasingly political Christians in the US and the hatred harbored by different nations over borders for centuries, I believe that religion will either someday disappear completely or destroy the entire human race. That bothers me.

I was listening to NPR today and heard something that struck me. Turkey's military has a lot of power. It was set up to protect a secular constitution. In order to join the EU, the military has to be scaled back and the power it has must come from the people, who are mostly Islamic.

This is one of those times when I think of Nietzche (who I acually disliked in Philosophy class). What if I am wrong about this guy? He basically said that it was up to a small number of people (nobility, for example) to use the large number of lower class people in order to create the best world for themselves. I completely disagree. But when I see something like the balance of power going from secular, reasonable, thought to passionate, irrational religious beliefs, I tend to wonder if Nietzche's ideas aren't so crazy after all in some context.

It's the same with representative democracy in the States. Democracy says that 51% of the nation can make decisions for 100% of the nation. Religious people are more likely to have more children than non-religious people because non-religious people don't count on God to clean up after them when the world gets polluted and unsustainable. They don't like by the "Go forth and multiply" creed of religions like Catholicism and Mormonism. In a few generations, this country will be in the grips of the superstitious, zealous, paranoid war-mongers that are bred by church doctrine. Is that right? Shouldn't the smarter, more educated, more protective, secular population find some way to prevent this?  I don't know. I myself hope that if it gets too bad, I can move to Europe or Canada. But is there an answer?

I want to say no, but the fact that there are people out there that actually believe the world is 6,000 years old and want that belief taught in science class sinks my heart to my chest. Thinking about the future of my country is the same feeling as thinking of a diabetic who insists on eating pie for breakfast, lunch and dinner. What is the general feeling in the secular community regarding these questions? I'd like to know.