When people claim religion is harmless.

[Brian37]

Uh, what?

Think it through. It's not difficult. Different groups of people competed with each other. From an evolutionary perspective, they didn't begin with religion. Religion came in at some point. If religion were deleterious to the survival of the group, it would have been eradicated. But, it fixed in practically all groups. That indicates that it's advantageous.

Religion is not the cause of our evolutionary curiosity evolution is. Humans made bad guesses back then WORLDWIDE and every religion WORLDWIDE, just as far too many WORLDWIDE still do today, what you are doing still, is falsely assuming because a contribution was made, that makes the club, or holy book true. EVERY religion has followers and apologists who fall for this trap.

Scientific method, is a tool, it is not a religion. Humans worldwide made discoveries even back then, and that evolutionary curiosity built up over time. But that STILL does not point to one club or one holy book. 

There are far older societies in our species history than Muslims, Jews or Christians. Mastering fire, making cloths, and building shelter EXISTED even prior to the first written religions. 

Ask a Buddhist if science matches their religion, many will say yes.
Ask a Muslim if science matches their religion, many will say yes.
Ask a Jew if science matches their religion, many will say yes.
Ask a Hindu if science matches their religion, many will say yes.

Religious people certainly can learn and accept science. But I'd argue it isn't your religion doing that, it is your genes, your evolutionary drive to want to figure things out.

A Christian mapping out the human Gene does not prove the God of the bible the one true god, anymore than a Muslim arguing their contribution of algebra proves the existence of Allah. Just like both would agree that pointing to the Ancient Greeks inventing the word "atom" did not mean they knew what a proton, electron or neutron were.

Scientific method is COMPLETELY religion independent regardless of the personal beliefs of an individual scientist who has a religion. 

There is no Jesus law of gravity.
There is no Allah law of thermodynamics.
There is no Buddhist atom smasher.
There is no Jewish cosmic microwave background radiation.
There is no Hindu quantum physics.

There is only scientific method.

[brewer]

Think it through. It's not difficult. Different groups of people competed with each other. From an evolutionary perspective, they didn't begin with religion. Religion came in at some point. If religion were deleterious to the survival of the group, it would have been eradicated. But, it fixed in practically all groups. That indicates that it's advantageous.

As a society develops and evolves those advantages reach a finite ending. We are seeing the beginnings now.

[The Grand Nudger]

Think it through. It's not difficult. Different groups of people competed with each other. From an evolutionary perspective, they didn't begin with religion.

As far as we can tell..they did-ish.

Religion came in at some point.

That's not at all our understanding of the likely origin of religion based upon the archaealogical record.  

If religion were deleterious to the survival of the group, it would have been eradicated. But, it fixed in practically all groups. That indicates that it's advantageous.

Nah, it indicates that all of these groups of humans that independently arrived at their various proto-religious beliefs had some common advantageous traits, no telling what those might be.....   

The irony of this comment from a christian..whose religion was very recently engaged in -being- the deleterious agent of believers of other religions is delicious, though. Religion isn;t, today..some sort of fixed advantage...nor has it been so in the memorable past. I'm not sure why we're expecting more from it in the bowels of prehistory. The earliest religions compelled people to bury valuable and practically useful goods in the dirt as offerings to a corpse. To say that a few cavekids probably went hungry on account of this is putting it mildly - these were a chronically impoverished and needful people. Religion has been engaged in increasingly parasitic behaviors ever since.

[vulcanlogician]

Think it through. It's not difficult. Different groups of people competed with each other. From an evolutionary perspective, they didn't begin with religion slavery. Religion Slavery came in at some point. If religion slavery were deleterious to the survival of the group, it would have been eradicated. But, it fixed in practically all groups. That indicates that it's advantageous.

My bold.

Some institutions may have helped certain tribes/cultures prosper during prehistory and the dawn of civilization. This doesn't necessarily mean their time hasn't passed.

[John V]

As a society develops and evolves those advantages reach a finite ending. We are seeing the beginnings now.

No we're not. Projections don't show atheism making gains.

---

Think it through. It's not difficult. Different groups of people competed with each other. From an evolutionary perspective, they didn't begin with religion slavery. Religion Slavery came in at some point. If religion slavery were deleterious to the survival of the group, it would have been eradicated. But, it fixed in practically all groups. That indicates that it's advantageous.

My bold.

Some institutions may have helped certain tribes/cultures prosper during prehistory and the dawn of civilization. This doesn't necessarily mean their time hasn't passed.

And slavery has decreased in terms of percentage of population (although at an all-time high in raw numbers), while population projections show theism continuing on.

---

This has been posted here several times before but people still don't seem to get it:

http://www.pewforum.org/2015/04/02/relig...2010-2050/

Atheists, agnostics and other people who do not affiliate with any religion – though increasing in countries such as the United States and France – will make up a declining share of the world’s total population.

Theists have more children than atheists, and conversions aren't enough to overcome the difference.

[The Grand Nudger]

Sounds like prodigious fucking is their advantage..not religion.   Yall're a regular lot of common bonobos....but hey, who am I.  I did my part to combat all your righteous quiverfulling.

[LuisDantas]

Uh, what?

Think it through. It's not difficult. Different groups of people competed with each other. From an evolutionary perspective, they didn't begin with religion. Religion came in at some point. If religion were deleterious to the survival of the group, it would have been eradicated. But, it fixed in practically all groups. That indicates that it's advantageous.

Wishful thinking can be difficult to resist, I understand.

[brewer]

As a society develops and evolves those advantages reach a finite ending. We are seeing the beginnings now.

No we're not. Projections don't show atheism making gains.

---

My bold.

Some institutions may have helped certain tribes/cultures prosper during prehistory and the dawn of civilization. This doesn't necessarily mean their time hasn't passed.

And slavery has decreased in terms of percentage of population (although at an all-time high in raw numbers), while population projections show theism continuing on.

---

This has been posted here several times before but people still don't seem to get it:

http://www.pewforum.org/2015/04/02/relig...2010-2050/

Atheists, agnostics and other people who do not affiliate with any religion – though increasing in countries such as the United States and France – will make up a declining share of the world’s total population.

Theists have more children than atheists, and conversions aren't enough to overcome the difference.

I suggest that you go and join those societies then. The world is not "a society". (yet)