Religion vs Atheism in fiction

So those who know me are aware that have some very solid opinions about the existence of a higher power, and about religion in general. I think that religion is dangerous and detrimental to our society and faith in something you have no evidence for is a little silly, etc etc-that's not what I want to talk about today.

The question I want do address is this: How do you deal with, or address this in your writing?

There are many schools of thought on this subject. Historically many writers follow their consciences and do as they see fit. C. S. Lewis was very clear in his writing, which was an allegory to the bible, while many Sci-Fi writers treat religion as a non-subject, acting as though it never existed at all or treating it with disdain. Then again there are stories like the Left Behind series which depict supernatural events brought on by biblical forces, God or Satan.

But most writers tend to treat the subject neutrally, without bringing their own personal bias into the equation. Jim Butcher for example never really talks about his religious beliefs, but in his Dresden Files story he treats God as a vital supernatural (or perhaps extra-normal) force for good, though Dresden himself, though he knows of the existence of God, isn't a fan. He's even good friends with a Knight of the Cross, for whom the coincidence seems to twist itself into knots to help him, yet Dresden remains cynical.

Well, on the one hand... I almost feel as a writer it should be my duty to educate people. To show them the truth, as I see it, as I believe it to be, and lead them away from the path that may lead to bigotry and judgmental-ism. But honestly not all religious people and for the most part no one the I know act like the Westboro Baptist Church. So that may not be the best thing. And the more I think about it the less I have an issue with faith, so long as it's not taken advantage of or corrupted.

With the Santa Society I think I can just treat religion the same as it really is in the world. Some people believe, some don't. It's important though to make sure to make sure that the faithful sound true to life, so I'll have to get some of my religious friends to help me get it sounding right.

With the Mage World story, I'm going to have to decide about how that's going to work. My instinct is to say that there is a semi-provable God, and come up with some kind of magical explanation. But I'm thinking that I'd like to have it be a bit more realistic as well, keep it more ambiguous.

Bottom line, I'm going to -for now- make religion an ambiguous thing with all the perils and pitfalls that comes with. If I decide to change that in the future, then I'll have to revisit the issue, but for now I think I'm just going to put it in neutral.

Short post tonight, but I'm a bit tired, Narcolepsy hitting me in the face. But as always, comments and suggestions are welcome. Thanks for reading!