Humans are animals. Whether we're superior to other animals or not depends on what is being compared. Cheetahs are faster. Gorillas are stronger. Bacons are tastier. And so on.
As for the harm religion does to society, the greatest might be the time and effort lost to it that could have been spent on progress in various areas (particularly science and technology) and the time and effort spent slowing or blocking progress in other areas (gender equality, sex education, science and technology, etc). It's a lot like other forms of tribalism (racism, nationalism) in that it slows the general progress of society. But as social creatures, tribalism might have been the driving force behind the growth of civilization. So it's a price we pay, and the next stage in the growth of the species will hopefully be a refinement that wipes out the more harmful forms of tribalism.
As for the harm religion does to society, the greatest might be the time and effort lost to it that could have been spent on progress in various areas (particularly science and technology) and the time and effort spent slowing or blocking progress in other areas (gender equality, sex education, science and technology, etc). It's a lot like other forms of tribalism (racism, nationalism) in that it slows the general progress of society. But as social creatures, tribalism might have been the driving force behind the growth of civilization. So it's a price we pay, and the next stage in the growth of the species will hopefully be a refinement that wipes out the more harmful forms of tribalism.
"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
