Ignorance was in the people who listened to the preachers and eventually bought into Christianity. The people didn't know any better, they had no way of knowing how things worked or why they did and in need of some kind of answer used God as the excuse. Coercion is something Christianity is famous for. More people have been killed in the name of Christ than any other. Ever since the people have been able to stop these three influences, Christianity and other religions have stopped growing so much.
Faith means belief in something without proof it exists or happens or happened.
Religion is faith-based because there is no way to scientifically prove that any God exists. Atheism is not a belief or faith, as Todd said, but a lack of belief or faith. I want to say that I am disappointed by the overall quality of writing by many of the authors. There are good writers such as Dalel Raide who thoughtfully write stories which are done with class and good taste, but many others appear to have given perhaps just a minute of thought in their articles. Instead of having someone write about why he is too lazy to vote, you could have someone write about why it is important to vote.