(September 1, 2022 at 7:45 pm)h311inac311 Wrote: Okay Aegon, what is the nature of religion?
Is it good, bad or neutral?
You're asking basically the same kind of question. "Religion" has meant too many different things and has had a very wide variety of impacts on culture and society. Sometimes this impact is extremely negative, other times it's been positive. So I reject the question like the human nature question.
If I had to choose, I guess I'd say that, overall, organized religion has had a net negative impact on humanity because of the violence and war that religions have created, if that's what you're asking. The amount of death and suffering caused most likely trumps the positives that people have gotten from them. I would also say that the Abrahamic religions, in my opinion of course, are so laughably wrong about the universe and our place in it that it's hard not to find them repulsive. To me it feels as though billions of people think 2+2 = 5 because of those religions. The egotistical thinking that those religions encourage have definitely had a negative impact on the West's collective psychology.