I often wonder what animals must think of us. Sitting on the couch with my three dogs, watching the latest atrocities being played out on TV, I can’t help but wonder if they’re not thinking — much like me — that the wrong ones are caged up.

Lions and tigers and bears may be the ones we’ve put behind bars, but honestly, after the burning death of Muath al-Kasaesbeh, the Jordanian pilot who was captured after his plane was shot down by members of Islamic State, you’ll have a hard time convincing me who the real animals are.

This brutal act of terrorism, following on the heels of the beheading of two Japanese prisoners, Haruna Yukawa and Kenji Goto — as well as the Charlie Hebdo murders in Paris in January — has convinced me that the time has come to do something about the root cause of all this evil.

I’m talking about doing away with religion.

Banning it, outlawing it, abolishing it. Whatever term you wish to use, it really doesn’t matter to me, just get rid of it. The world is on shaky enough grounds as it is. The environment is at risk, our economy is faltering, and our social fabric is torn. Now is not the time for either a holy crusade or a jihad.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not suggesting we ban spirituality, or showing compassion and empathy for our fellow beings, or even basic human kindness. Those things are all good and we should strive to make them a part of our day-to-day lives.

What I’m talking about is this seemingly fanatical devotion to the Word.

As a spin doctor — and an atheist — I have to tell you only a fool believes everything he or she reads. People in my line of work — public relations — get paid good money to “tell the story that tells the story.” We never let the facts get in the way of a good tale. Most important, we understand that something doesn’t have to be true. It just has to be believable. At least, that’s the case when you’re trying to sway public opinion.

Take the Bible, for instance. Bob Dylan once said the Bible is both the most underrated and overrated book, and I think he’s right. It’s also been called “the greatest story ever told,” and I agree with that assessment, too.

The Bible is a story. It’s not the word of God or Jesus or Moses or Yahweh. It was written by people just like me. Spin doctors, if you will. It’s a fairy tale that has about as much to do with reality as the Easter Bunny or Santa Claus.

Same thing with the Qu’ran, and other books purporting to explain how it was we came to be here on this planet.

Now, I’m not trying to blind anyone with science, or mock anyone who truly believes. I get that it can be a mean old world out there and we all need a little solace from time to time in order to make it through the night. As Bruce Cockburn facetiously sings in Justice, “Everybody loves to see justice done on somebody else.”

I am not recommending we burn these books because they’re dangerous. It’s not ideas that are dangerous. It’s the people who take those ideas and bend them to fit their own evil intents that are the dangerous ones.

What I am suggesting, however, is that maybe the time has come to be honest with ourselves. We are living on a beautiful planet full of marvels, a veritable garden of earthly delights. But guess what? Adam and Eve? We’re not in danger of falling because we’re being tempted by the devil, who has chosen to appear in the form of a serpent. No, our downfall will happen because we are too bloody stupid to think for ourselves.

German philospher Friedrich Nietzsche, who in 1892 said, “God is dead,” was wrong. God is not dead. There is no God and never was. Until we, as a society, come to terms with this and stop conjuring up invisible men in the clouds who are supposed to watch over and protect us, we’re never going to evolve.

Fortunately, there is hope. More and more atheists are identifying themselves. And not just intellectuals and celebrities such as biologist Richard Dawkins, author Christopher Hitchens or comedian Ricky Gervais. Ordinary people, like you and me.

But the road is long, with many a winding turn, as someone once said. For those of us who understand you don’t need to believe in fairies and magic dust in order to see what a wonderful world it is, it’ll likely take several lifetimes to convince everyone else the truth is right here in front of us, if only we have the courage to look.

Amen.

Stephen Skyvington is the president of PoliTrain Inc. He can be heard every Saturday at 1 p.m. on CFRB Newstalk Radio 1010. Follow him on Twitter @SSkyvington.