Haven't read the entire thread but the following thought(s) occurs to me in response to your original post Julian.

The belief in an after life can be (and often is) used as argument to commit some horrendeous acts against fellow human beings.

eg martyrs can be garenteed their place in heaven for following gods will.

and

I would have thought that rationaly minded people would see the fact that science questions the existence of the afterlife, leading to the very real possibility that we only have one shot at life and that it's in our best interests to make it as pleasant an experience as possible.

So off the back of those thoughts it would seem to me that it is science and not religion that gives us clear reasons as to why we should all get along with eachother.

GTM