(August 17, 2014 at 11:03 am)CapnAwesome Wrote: What's seems to be lacking in the discussion often is why religion is bad. What is it specifically about large groups believing something that isn't true that makes it harmful?I've made this point before: religion can make people hurt other people while believing that what they are doing is good or moral or just. As an example, JWs practice shunning: they will cut off all communication with those who leave (or are removed from) the group. If you are a grandmother, this might lead your own children to refuse to see you, or allow you to see your grandchildren. No matter how painful this is for all involved, they will hold to this stance because they sincerely believe that it is what god wants from them. The same for the parents who allow their child to die because they will not allow her to receive a blood transfusion.
Anything that can make otherwise good people do horrible things to one another because they believe it's the best possible option is bad. Religion is not alone in this, but differs from the others (such as nationalism and racism) by claiming a divine, super-human authority. To betray your religious beliefs is not to betray your peers; it is a betrayal of a much higher order, and therefore acts that might otherwise be seen as vicious and cruel become righteous and just.
"Well, evolution is a theory. It is also a fact. And facts and theories are different things, not rungs in a hierarchy of increasing certainty. Facts are the world's data. Theories are structures of ideas that explain and interpret facts. Facts don't go away when scientists debate rival theories to explain them. Einstein's theory of gravitation replaced Newton's in this century, but apples didn't suspend themselves in midair, pending the outcome. And humans evolved from ape- like ancestors whether they did so by Darwin's proposed mechanism or by some other yet to be discovered."
-Stephen Jay Gould
-Stephen Jay Gould
