As a nonbeliever why should I recognize or respect someones beliefs that are solely based on faith? How is a child's faith in the tooth fairy different from an adults faith in their religion? In my view the child and adult have the some amount of credibility.
I'm a nonbeliever too...I'll have a crack at these from a slightly different perspective, but I'll do it in reverse order because...erm...I'm from the Southern Hemisphere (after all, our toilets flush in the reverse direction)
A child trusts it's parents, and it is generally the parent telling the kids about Santa, etc. The belief is rewarded with physical evidence in the form of presents. As the child gets older, they begin to question the belief. This might be because 'Little Johnny' said it is not real, or they work out that rabbit footprints aren't really made of talcum powder, or mum forgets to take off the pricetag from the toys she has always said the elves make, or...whatever...
At that point, the parent generally spills the beans (even if there are a couple of years of doubt between the initial doubt and the confirmation of the lie). Can you really compare that process to religion?
What you are saying with religion is that you see it as a falsity, much like Santa. Only there are plenty of people who truly believe. I, like you, don't believe in God. I don't for a moment think that everyone who does is lying about that belief.
So, to try and tie religion and Santa together (which is kinda a stretch, but here I go) imagine now you are a kid believing in Santa. It's not just you who believe in Santa. Your parents do to. And your aunts and uncles. A whole LOT of people believe in Santa. They really, truly believe. And, from what you can tell, that belief encourages them to be good all year round, 'cos they don't want to end up on the naughty list.
So, sure, you get some doubts. But it wouldn't be from the price tags on the toys, would it? And you parents aren't about to come clean and say 'Ya know what? It was us all along...we just invented the Catholic Church for a bit of fun'.
Unlike Santa, belief in God, and by extension following a religion is a much more personal choice. People can claim to 'know' whatever they want, but no-one can take you to mums cupboard and show you the toys waiting for Xmas day. I'm an atheist because no-one is able to set a trap for Santa and catch him in the act. But....apart from in this thread where I am taking a lot of literary licence...I wouldn't compare the complexities of religion to belief in Santa in any serious fashion.
