Why atheists care about religion... why do we care?

I have had many a debate with myself about religion. I was not christened as a child or baptized, as my parents felt that it was best to leave it until I was old enough to decide for myself what I believed. As a child, I believed myself to be a Christian, for a little while, as I was a good person, and that is what I felt a good person was. As I grew older, I expanded my beliefs and tried out Wicca (I know that there is an ongoing debate about whether or not Wicca is a religion). As time went by, I realized that I didn't know what to believe, and came to the conclusion that in fact, I do not believe in any religion. Each day I watch the news and read the news paper, and there is always at least one story about conflict over religious views. Surely religion is supposed to be about a way of life, about following your beliefs to better your self and your life, not about killing others because they have differences of opinion. You hear the corruptness religion gives some people, and because of this, I too believe that the world could be a better, safer place without religion. However, I am not one to force my opinions on anyone, and I believe that everybody should be given the opportunity to choose their path in life... I understand that not all religious people are bad and corrupt, but it is those that take their views too strongly that give bad reputations to those who have faith. With societies becoming as multi-cultural as ever these days, we all need to learn to live side-by-side, without hatred and conflict over differences such as religion.

I understand the bad mixing of religions and politics, and I am a great activist about this. But that don't make me an atheist. There are many religions and most of them are persecuted by politics. So it is not "a religious conservative or liberal", I am religious and anarchist.

I've never known which side of these types of arguments to stand on, honestly. I am very religious, but my religion is also fairly unorganized, very individualistic, and completely non-proselytizing. So most of the evils religions are accused of simply don't apply. I think religion as a whole can be either a positive thing or a negative thing depending on approach. I can totally understand why atheists would still be concerned with religion, in the same way that I can see why anyone would be concerned with a force that is causing war and subjugation.

I grew up Catholic because that is what my parents were, but as I got older i had too many questions about different aspects of Chritianity. Most of these questions could not be answered without "faith", so I decided that religion is not for me. "Faith", to me, basically means that you believe in something even though there is no proof of its existence. That is not good enough for me... I need the proof. Now, I have no problem with people who are religious. If religion helps you get through your life easier then that is great for you. What I don't like is people who try to cram their religion and their morals related to that religion down my throat. To me, that is very wrong, and that is why I spend a lot of time talking about religion.