Al Jazeera is reporting that a blogger who opposed religious fundamentalism has been murdered in Bangladesh in a bloody attack that left his wife seriously wounded as well.

Police say unidentified attackers have hacked a prominent US blogger to death in Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka.

Police on Friday said that Avijit Roy, a Bangladesh-born US citizen, known for this writing against religious fundamentalism, and wife Rafida Ahmed, were attacked after a visit to a book fair at Dhaka University.

The report doesn’t specify which religion. But does that really matter? Virtually all religions have some kind of loophole allowing believers to commit violent attacks on those who offend their religion. Islam is the most notorious, but Christianity has its extremists and its militias as well. Even Hinduism has been known to be dangerous to non-Hindus under the right circumstances.

What we all need to recognize is that religion, all religion, is just a story. You can believe it or not, if you wish, but it’s just a story. It’s not divine. It’s not supernatural. It does not do anything on its own apart from human help and human superstition. It does not justify violence. It’s just a story.

If somebody criticizes your story, criticize them right back, and then you’re even. And if their criticisms are accurate, and yours are not, then that still does not justify violence against them, no matter how frustrated it makes you feel. You chose to believe the story. You live with the consequences of believing ancient myths.