gnu,

I don't agree with your "Jesuit scholar".

I'm not sure I understand the "lifestyle of the intelligent" bit (not intelligent enough I suppose). But I don't think that the religious are any more duped than the unreligious. Furthermore, the religious are just as likely as the atheists to call the Jim Jones's of the world into question.

It's no more fair or logical to describe "the religious" as followers of Jim Jones than it is to compare "the atheists" to Stalin. The religious are in no more practical agreement with each other than they are with the atheist. They may find common ground when unfairly attacked as a single entity (for instance, if religious freedom is threatened they may find more reason to fight together, even though they don't agree in principle on any religious tenet), but they are not a single entity.