Quote:
Originally Posted by Snuffleupagus
Just my opinion but all religions are bad, they can contribute to a social division "us vs them" mentality, discrimination, conflicts and war. Religions discourage critical thinking on science, evolution, education and even medicine.
Parents who are heavily religious run the risk of "dumbing" down their kids during the critical years for IQ development (birth to about age 8)
I don't even need to mention the child sexual abuse scandals.
Human beings are already a tribal species, add religion and you have even a larger group problem.
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In a lot of ways, even some pretty direct ways, religion was the driver for human civilization and advancement. It's widely hypothesized these days that permanent human settlements first spawned around sites of spiritual and religious importance, which then formed the necessary stability for agricultural, specialization, and more advanced linguistics. The sites that also acted as pilgrimage sites for neolithic people created an area where people from other societies could meet and exchange ideas. =
I get that the whole thing could be considered vestigial in the modern world and there is a worthy debate about the usefulness it now serves. It could just be one of those things we are stuck with until the world moves into a more post-religious one, which I think is happening gradually. I don't think it will solve any of the tribalism or global violence issues though.