Help me out here, Ex Buddhists.

[Brian37]

Now you want the scientific reality of why religion pops up, "The God Delusion" by Dawkins explains it and "The New Atheism" by Victor Stenger explains where it is coming from. Explaining reality isn't a denial of rights anymore than saying the moon isn't made of cheese is a denial of rights. What others do with accepting or rejecting those facts isn't forcing them to accept them by gunpoint. Science works regardless of what our personal biases are. And the fact is that all religions are a result of our species gap filling.

Of course science works... within the framework that it is meant to work. I highly doubt that framework is applicable to the sorts of things that inspire a person to seek out Buddhism.

ARGGGGGGGG, you can also find inspiration in Harry Potter too, but no one starts a religion over it. Now again, this has nothing to do with human rights. 

It most certainly is applicable to religion, it is an explanation as to why those things are created by humans. Just like we can understand why people buy into other claims like Ouija boards working. Claims people like certainly make them feel good, but that alone doesn't mean they are anything more than a placebo.

Again, there is not one religion that exists now or has existed in our evolution that was around 200,000 years ago, or 2 million years ago or 4 billion years ago. Other life has evolved, like grass and bacteria fine without religion, and other life has also been destroyed by 5 mass extinctions in our planet's history. 10 billion years from now humans will not exist, our planet will die and none of those placebos we invent to make groups will exist either. The universe was around prior to us and it will continue on with no record of us or the groups we create and call religion. 

SCIENCE is most certainly capable of explaining why humans come up with these ideas. None of that fact stating is calling for a utopia where religion is forced out of existence. It is simply an explanation as to why it occurs. Just like we now know what DNA is. Religions exist as a gap filling placebo.

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Not saying you can get rid of religion, and no, that harsh reality isn't sexy, but it is reality. I think it is better to consider that reality than pin your hopes on placebo. Our species also has the good side of curiosity and the ability to scrap old claims. I see nothing wrong with humans considering maybe they are the ones being good and the labels are not doing that, and that good in us has always been in us.