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If one finds fault with or does not follow the above argument, consider the choice in practical terms: even if you agree with evolution in every sense and agree with Krauthammer, if you were in a desperate way and going door to door among strangers for help, would you rather try it among Christian fundamentalists in evolution hostile rural America, or would you prefer to seek help in a tony, faith hostile, evolution friendly urban neighborhood in Blue state America? Ideas have consequences.

I understand your point, but your example does compare apples to oranges. Would I seek help in a tony, evolution-friendly urban neighborhood or a creationist-friendly urban neighborhood? (Hmmm... Are there such places? And if not, why not? :-)

Anyway, rural communities tend to be much more cohesive, regardless of the dominant religion. I can appreciate the fact that a person who loses their faith finds themselves alone - but we do eventually find each other and build our own relationships.

Now, do we build explicitly atheist (or Objectivist in my case) communities? I.e., support networks that are built around our atheism? No, usually not. Whenever I've asked my fellow athiest friends why there aren't more Fellowships of Reason, or why there aren't more door-to-door evangelical Objectivists, they tend to scoff at the very idea of joining a group for fellowship. Very much like Libertarians, in fact.

The problem for atheism, whether in hard or soft form, is not so much an unwillingness to join organizations as that atheism seldom endures, either in individuals or from one generation to the next. In evolutionary terms, atheism is a cultural dead end, lacking the fitness necessary for longterm direct propagation. It recurs though, like some recurrent defect or pathogenic illness that reduces fertility but persists through new recruitment instead of direct propagation.

Saying that faithful rural communities are "more cohesive" is another way of saying the same thing. Calling that "apples to oranges" is a recognition of my point, not a refutation. Thoroughgoing atheists tend to move to large urban areas and not have kids, while the faithful tend to have them and seek the safety and ease of large backyards and lower crime rates.