Famed biologist says religion ‘is dragging us down’ and must be eliminated

[KevinM1]

I tend to generally agree with the biologist's opinion, if only because religion tends to block critical thought. At the end of the day, I find the ability for people to hand wave anything away with "God did it" to be incredibly troublesome. While religion may offer some non-exclusive benefits like the feeling of social cohesion and fellowship, I feel that it's a net negative to society because it can be used as an excuse for any and all misdeeds.

I agree with whomever said that even without religion we'd still form groups and have conflicts. The thing is, secular people tend to be better at critical thinking and display more empathy (http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-...tml#page=1), so maybe those conflicts won't be so bloody, and/or won't be based on faulty reasoning. At least, one can hope. It's certainly a better situation to be in than believing a magical sky daddy gives a shit about this little mud ball, anyway. That's just delusional, IMO.

Thankfully, if the demographic trends continue the way they are, then religion will be mostly an afterthought in the USA in a couple generations. It will naturally fade away. No 'wiping out' required.