I believe that currently, religion has more negative than positive effects on society. Firstly, religion intrinsically promotes rejection of different beliefs. It tells adherents that this is the way that you should live life, and it is the right way. This attitude promotes closed-mindedness and intolerance. By attempting to explain many things about the way humans came into being, the vast majority of religions brainwash adherents by giving them false explanations of the natural world. Many people, when questioned as to why they believe something related to their religion, cite their holy book (Bible, Quran, etc.) as evidence. The problem is not only that these books were written thousands of years ago, but also that there is no evidence as to who wrote the books and what the intention of them was.

So when people believe in religion, they are believing something with no evidence to back it up, and these people often let the principles of their religion govern their behavior and attitude towards other people. When pressed further as to explain their beliefs, many people explain that they believe in religion because they were raised to. This obviously does not apply to everyone, but I was watching an excellent video clip the other day of Richard Dawkins explaining some of the fundamental concepts of evolution to students at a religious school in England. The results were shocking. So many kids rejected the overwhelming evidence for evolution simply because they were not brought up to believe it. Such is the adverse effects of religious indoctrination.

Irrational interpretations of religious texts often set back progress in today's modern society. If my parents were devout Christians, I would probably not be alive today. I was conceived via IVF, which many Christians oppose. Gay rights have also been severely limited in many nations because of religious beliefs, even when the evidence proves that homosexuality is not a choice, and that it cannot be cured. The list goes on and on. Abortion, birth control, and evolution are all actively rallied against by many religious people who reject it simply because of what their holy book (remember, it is not reliable at all) says.

Many people allow religion to dictate their lives and form the moral basis for their behavior. In fact, this is what I believe is one of the reasons why religion became popular in the first place. Many people are unsure of themselves to the point where they cannot develop a complete moral framework to guide themselves. Religion helps with this by providing one and giving incentives to people to do follow that framework (i.e. a place in heaven). For many people that are 'lost' in life, religion helps them find themselves. But that's where the positives end. Religion is the basis behind such illogical punishment systems as Sharia law. People take religion so seriously that many try to impose their beliefs on others (see missionaries). I would be OK if they were advocating for greater scientific literacy, but religion is the antithesis of science. Though many argue that lots of science is in the Bible or Quran, the fact is is that that is very outdated science. The vast majority of science from back then is obviously not accepted now.

I could and would like to talk more fluidly and coherently about this, but I'll end here for now. To sum my views up, i believe that religion has had adverse effects on today's society because it encourages close-mindedness by singling out a moral framework as entirely correct, holds scientific literacy and progress back by attempting to fill in unanswered questions pertaining to the world with illogical, unsubstantiated (yet commonly believed) answers like the presence of a god, and is frequently irrationally extrapolated into many situations in life.

Well yes you're right as many of the ancient Greek books were re-discovered during the Crusades.

The reason why I said that is because you replied in all caps, with the use of smilies which to me lowered the value of your reply as something aggressive.

That is the case, but that changed as the years went by. Things were chaotic during much of the empire. What kept the empire together was strong rulers, military campaigns and order. I would actually get my sources but this is stuff I learned over many years.

I don't really agree with that. That period in time has been so badly taught in lower education like high school and lower that they don't go in detail. Religion kept things in order which helped make progress. Algebra, the printing press, the concept of zero, the compass and so on. Many things were created, many of these things led to the explorations during the Renaissance which too was backed by religion.

If you want more info read Fields of Blood.

!!!

Art alone owes so much to religion. I say this as someone who <3s art history and has no particular affinity for religion.

Depend of the religion

Religion created human civilizations. Hinduism created the Hindu civilization. Judaism created the Jewish civilization. Islam created the Arab civilization. Shintoism created the Japanese civilization. Christianity built the western civilization. All of the world's greatest civilizations and societies have religion accompanying and associated with them.

So then I ask you, if you believe that religion was the main building block of these civilizations, what about religion makes it so useful and great? I'm interested to hear your opinion.

Religion is the one element of life that has connected the races and societies of the world for thousandss of years. It has given meaning to lives that may seem otherwise hopeless. Religion has provided for a universal language and culture among those who believe in a higher power. The spirit or being receiving the worship and praise may not be the same, but the practices are usually similar and serve the same purpose--to give direction, insight, courage, and a divine connection. Religion gives meaning to scientific pursuit. It is also the primary source of objective morality for people of different cultures. Without religion everyone falls into moral relativism. Religion unites people more than it divides them. Do you really think people of different cultures all over the world will be united when all religions suddenly disappear?

But the very nature of religion causes people to hate one another. A lot of people are indoctrinated to the point where they believe that their religion is the right way to go about life, and judge and discriminate against those who do not fit into that framework. How can you argue that religion unites people when incidents between groups like Shia and Sunni Muslims occur every day in the Middle East?

I agree that religion has given meaning to people that are 'lost', and I mentioned this in my original post on page 3 of this thread. But I would disagree with you when you say that religion 'gives meaning to scientific pursuit.' That statement is vague, so i may be misinterpreting it here, but my opinion is that religion and science actually contradict each other, and religion does not support science.

Take the evolution vs. creationism debate. Creationists use religion to back their argument and use almost no credible scientific evidence. Those who advocate for evolution usually use much more credible evidence. Charles Darwin did not become a pioneer of evolution because of religion. He was simply so curious and had so many ideas about where humans came from. The people who developed religion were also curious, but they decided to answer the questions about the world on their own and presenting it as fact in their holy books.

That is the main difference between science and religion. Science is based upon mountains of extensive research. Tens of thousands of people have devoted their lives to science and figuring more about this wonderful universe. Religion, however, is impatient. It fills in what we do not know with outlandish postulates that are taught to people as truth. As a result, religious people are so often misled.

religion has had a horrible influence on society from the moment it began

Bad.