You, like the athiest, are speaking in generalities. I was speaking with one specific example for each of his assertions, to refute his generalization. If religion enslaves minds, as he posited, then clearly the absence of religion frees minds. This could not be further from the truth with Communism, under which religions and the religious are persecuted, and minds are enslaved en masse.
Conversely, he asserted that religion "hardens hearts". If that is true, then why are churches, synogogues, and yes mosques the largest sources of charitable donations and services on the planet, far outweighing any government involvement?
An unanswerable question well asked. Merry Christmas.
Any ideology can be used to enslave minds. He just has a thing against religion.