I’ve been told (and just noticed as well) people believe that without the religion or whatever else that people have, others can't make a difference in the world. This doesn't quite make sense to me. You can't make a difference without X beliefs or X faith? Right... That's why Steve jobs left the imprint of a billion dollar company that’s a core part of an enormous part of the world's population's lives. You could say the same for many others, like Nikola Tesla for example; or Albert Einstein; or Julius Caesar. Even look at someone like H.P. Lovecraft—probably the greatest inspiration to the horror fiction genre. There are plenty of others, most of which are known even by the most uneducated. You say they didn't make a difference or do something valuable with their lives because they don't believe in X? I’m not so sure...
Another thing: just because someone stops believing one thing and starts believing (or not believing, whatever the case) in another, that makes him a fool? I am amazed at this. Is expanding one's horizons and seeing what else might be out there besides X belief a crime? Sometimes living in and knowing of only one way of living or doing things isn't enough. Even if it isn't a permanent change—or if it is—it shouldn't be so big of a deal that he is labeled a fool because he thinks differently. For those that only know one thing, and nothing else, there is no real reality outside of the one they have. They see it a certain way , and that’s the only truth; but just because you see it that way does not mean that each and every other person on the face of the earth should have to assimilate to those same beliefs.
I'll stop ranting now...