Kathleen forgets that Science regards the What, not the Why:
“If the human race ever exterminates itself through war, it will be because of ideas in scientific textbooks, not religious or ideological texts.”
Right. I can see it now. Nations attacking each other in the crusade for String Theory … martyrs sacrificing themselves in the holy name of the Genome Project.
The ideas to which I was referring refer to the concept of the atom and its splitting, of biochemistry, biogenetics and their deadlier potential applications. The religions of which Harris and Dawkins complain have been around for millenia; the danger of self-extinction which frightens them is entirely the result of science.
As the history of warfare and secular democide demonstrates quite clearly, even a complete absence of all religion would not appreciably reduce this risk.