Religionists confuse fact with feeling. Incidentally, although Christianity is the fastest decreasing religion in the world, the good effects off this are countered by the fact that Islam is the fastest increasing religion in the world. Where it all falls down is when the 'one true faith' scenario comes into play. It is my personal belief that spiritual leaders should stick to matters of the soul and leave the paperwork to the bean-counters. Societies run by priests usually have all sorts of inequalities, much like societies run by soldiers.
Priests heal the soul, bean-counters pass bits of paper around and soldiers repel boarders.
That is what makes a society work, any blurring of the boundaries will inevitably lead to problems. I seem to have argued myself into a corner.