The Middle East Friendship Chart

Atheists often bring up religion as a source of conflict, and there is some truth to this. But it isn't the whole picture. Religion is often just another expression of cultural differences, which along with conflicts for resources is the biggest driver for conflict. Religion is just part of the package. A non-religious example which often shows up among atheists is feminism, which is really just an expression for different value systems and opinions about what constitutes a better world. Similar conflicts of morality and interest show up between people of differing religion as well, and don't necessarily have anything to do with beliefs in different gods.

Remember, religion is deeply intertwined with culture and not a separate entity. In pre-scientific times, religion has also had an important role in bringing vital knowledge to the next generation (e.g. don't eat pork in hot climates; don't eat animals that have been dead for a long time).

We wouldn't have world peace if everyone just became atheists tomorrow. There are too many interactions between religion and culture in general. If two cultures are compatible, it's often because they interact a lot. If cultures interact a lot, they often end up with the same religion anyway. Etc. Remember, cultural boundaries are not static. Blaming religion above everything else betrays a limited understanding of the problem. It is really about communication, values and culture.

Afganistan is not in the middle east. That's a whole another cluster..ck.

Frankly it's not really accurate. And with most things in the Middle East, you could make this chart a ton easier by just labeling every relationship as Yellow/It's complicated

Props to them, though, for adding comments to each cell.