Despite all the complaints, organized religion does some very good things. Religion in any form, organized or not, offers billions of people a sense of happiness, belonging, and purpose that for some reason they can't find elsewhere in their lives. Religion, as with any large organization, can come together as a unified group to perform astonishingly large projects. If those projects are ethical, then more power to them. Religion acts as a moral guide for many people as well. Personally, I believe it acts has a pretty bad one, but nevertheless, the intention is good. However, given these positives, the negatives are overwhelming. The most obvious negative point is that despite many religions' intention to do good, they almost invariably screw up this fundamental goal and end up hurting either people or a people's culture. This hurt can range from relatively benign arrogance to wholly oppressive discrimination, slavery, murder, and genocide. As a result of the confused moral compass by which most religions guide themselves, such mistakes in behavior are practically ubiqituous across religions. Organized religion cannot take credit for its ability to help its own members without taking fault for the inevitable harm it causes its nonmembers.
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I would really like to hear what people think of this. Feedback is not only welcome, but desired and appreciated. Keith Wiley, kwiley@keithwiley.com