Atheists, and other non-religious folk of GAG do you think religion has done more good, harm, or an equal mix of both in society?

[Paradox316]

Answers from non-religious folk only, I for one think religion has done an equal mix of both harm and good to society, I think all the bad from religion comes from dogma, conformity, and anti-skepticism, but that comes from organized religion, and not religious belief/spirituality in general. I am Anti-clerical, but would not call myself anti-religion in general. I think religion in general arose as a psychological coping mechanism to cope with the fear of death and the unknown, and to alleviate the stress associated with those realities. Organized religion inevitably arose from that, and through these fears gained influence and power in society. (Which is where 95% of the harm of religion comes from) I think since the Renaissance and the rise of secularism, we as a species have outgrown the psychological need for organized religion, but disorganized religion (Which I define as religious associations with little hierarchy), and through philosophical and scientific education and secular attitudes in government organized religion might go away, but as along as death and the unknown remains I doubt the religious impulse in humanity in general will go away.

[CupcakeTheDestroyer]

It depends on what period of influence you’re looking at and from what perspective. If you look exclusively at Christianity for your perspective, as many of these conversations do for westerners, you get a mixed bag. Yes, Christianity was a very influential religion where a good man simply advocated that the world would be better if everyone was kind and was then crucified as his sermons were seen as unlawful disputations of the Roman occupation. It’s also responsible for the crusade wars, which it ultimately lost, the loss of different religions such as the Greco-Roman pantheons alongside the Nordic pantheons, the denouncement of Hinduism and similar religions equating them to demons, the break of protestantism caused hundreds of millions of people to die if their choice of christian religion was against that of the reigning authoritative power, the religion mainly being a tool to maintain power — an example we can see now with christian evangelism in American politics dominating the conservative sphere to justify abortion bans, trans and queer bans, etc.
It is also still a religion about kindness, forgiving one’s enemies, and there are church communities who do a lot to give back to the world. Providing food and clothing for those who may not have the privilege to regularly access it, creating spaces for people to grieve in a spiritual surrounding, funding mission trips to go abroad to do help others in poverty in other countries, speaking out against the hateful politics and completely embracing the message of christ, etc. is all things that many churches still happily do.


But religion is not just christianity, you see these patterns with any large religious faction of a corrupt, ruling power with a kind and gentle congregation who follows them. You see it in Islam and you see it in Judaism, two branches of the same tree as Christianity. You also see it in Zen Buddhism, one of the most popular factions of Buddhism in the world and also one of the most rigorously strict. Hinduism is one religion I know of that, as far as I’m aware, has no one ruling power that shows this corruption but the social castes of India still bear some influence from the time of their ancestors when the caste system was still legal and still has some power over others.


Religion itself is a tool that can be used for both malicious and compassionate purposes. You can use the power and influence of a god to back up your own influence and give yourself more power over others. You can also use the teachings related to said god to guide yourself to a better version of you, a version that is kinder, more loving, more in-touch with who they are spiritually. It can be used to bring people together for a community and it can also be used to exclude others and shun them. Religion as a concept is far from its intended goal and everyone has their own truth to follow in regards to how they use it and why they want to use it. Religion is not inherently evil, neither is the absence of religion. There is no perfect moral structure that can put the whole of a religion into either a moral good or moral evil category, it’s all a lot of gray spaces much like everything else in the world.

[BetaBucks]

Definitely a mix of both, but I think if we look at the history of it all, it's done more good because it convinced most of the species to act better to each other. Some did a better job than others. People will reference wars, but the reality is that the same wars would have been fought over resources and non-theistic ideology anyway. That's just human nature.

I think with the global implementation of criminal justice systems, and with media being able to inject values into people, that religion isn't necessary anymore. We can debate over values without a humanoid god-figure to threaten people with. But don't get me wrong, I appreciate religion and I'm not downtalking theists. Especially when 99% of atheists operate with identical levels of faith based belief systems. Referencing "proof" this is just someone else's claim to have proof. So the only thing that matters in the end is if the person holds good values, regardless of their source.

[ManInChains]

Follow Jesus, not religion. Religion is something people can do whatever they want with. Make it look good or bad. Jesus can't be tainted.

[Paradox316]

You contradicted yourself in your comment. You said to follow Jesus and not religion, but then you end your comment saying Jesus can't be tainted which implies you think he's infallible (He may have had some good ideas, but I'm sure he's not infallible) If you think he's infallible then you basically think he's perfect which would make him god in your eyes, which would make you a Christian
and I clearly said in the details no answers from religious people! So you're either lying or don't know what the word religion means, so which is it?

[strateguy632]

The problem is you, like dumb dawkins lump together religions as "religion "

I can say "have HUMANS done more good, harm, or an equal mix of both in society". Blame atheists for al queda!

[paledreams]

Lol I was raised Catholic - will likely have a funeral by Catholic church someday lol - obligation lol - I'd say religion has done more harm than good - yet at the same time talk about real estate they've amassed and fortunes lol in assets lol 😂😆

[Sonorous]

I think that it does more good. If it did more harm than good, I don't think we'd have a humanity left.

[Agape93]

Harm

[jahaims]

Harm