On the redeeming value of religion
P.Z. Myer: “I am unimpressed with this constant claim that religion has redeeming value. What is it? That it provides dishonest answers to questions that trouble people? How is that a virtue? Only apologists for religion seem to think it is.”
Check out Jerry Coyne’s comments, as well as P.Z.’s blog. Both are interesting reads, and I will add my own opinion.
There is NO REDEEMING VALUE in religion. It relies on superstition and false ideas. It drives people apart (especially if you aren’t in their particular “in” group). It causes people to believe strange and dangerous things, while denying investigation into reality to make sense of the world in which we live.
“But, religion also does good things.” No. No, it does not, in the net result. It is folly to think it is okay to give a man a sandwich while insisting he is unsuited for God’s presence.
The good activities religious people do (under a false basis of “charity”, i.e., Lying4Jesus™) are also done by humanists, but without the superstition, dogma, guilt trips, condemnation, justmentalism, paternalism, and just plain bullshit.
If people find comfort in believing bullshit to get through the day, well then that’s their prerogative. But I am not comforted by thinking that upon my death I will be whisked out of my body and into the presence of some deity to have my deeds on earth weighed and measured. When the body dies, the person inside the body dies. We have no evidence to think any part of our being survives beyond the grave.
We have no reason to think that if we believe this fairy tale or that mythical story that there is a deity who will especially favor us over our peers. It is even more stupid to think that just because a person talks to the ceiling in a particular way, their lives will be one ounce better than someone else, or that their way of living is somehow better than how other people live.
There is no evidence to think there is a god at all. The God of the Bible is utter fiction, but no other god or gods have been found to exist, either. It is all just man-made fairy tales, and the sooner people start accepting that, the better off we all will be. This is not up for discussion. To improve all human experience in this life, we need to focus on actually living in this life and give up the silly notions about some better life to come.
Totally agree with you on your point.
However, I come from a very poor environment, were people can’t afford to get smarter, they need a frame of reference to decide good from bad.
Don’t forget that you can’t apply common sense to foolish people and a lot of them need to be lied to be able to make it through the day.
Religion is a product of our under developed society, and as long as you have the foolish masses, there will be a belief in some kind of invisible force that watches you.
You should also remember that all these millions of years of brain development have some side-effects, and one of the features that we don’t want to abandon, is the belief that everything makes sense and there’s reward.