Want peace? Get rid of religion.

In a wholly un-shocking look at some facts, numbers and statistics, countries that have a higher percentage of atheists tend to be more peaceful. Numbers can be twisted to tell you just about anything, but it is hard to argue with these. The most peaceful country, New Zealand, is considered quite secular. The U. S. of A.? We're 83rd. More murders, prisoners, foreign wars and internal conflicts per capita than eighty-two other countries. And many people pride themselves on living in a 'Christian nation,' which isn't even entirely true. It's Judeo-Christian nation.
Countries with better health-care, lifespan and infant mortality rates are also less religious than we are. Is this a trend we can reverse? Fundamentalist Christianity and Evangelicalism want to drag us, kicking and screaming if necessary, back to the middle-ages where intolerance, ignorance and hatred ruled, to bring us right alongside backwards Islam nations that still build houses out of mud and sticks they are so poor.
Christianity is having a hard time absorbing Calvinism and Capitalism into it's world view, since money makes the world run but is also the root (love of money) of all evil. Power and money in the name of God is an enticing idea, but it corrupts far too easily, just as I too easily digress.
Instead of trying to incorporate modernity into religion and vice versa, we need to drive the wedge of secular society in-between them. Science, business, and government do not mix with religion, as should be abundantly clear by now. The powerful religious leaders do not want that wedge to be there, because it means that they will lose power over society as a whole. This is a good thing, and it is the only way that our country is going to survive as a power and remain competitive in the future, not to mention becoming a more peaceful place. The only way for our society to begin healing its festering wounds is to remove religion as a prominent player in creating social norms.
I know most of this seems like rambling, but I think that I'm on to something here.