Religion was often used to make people feel like they understand why others commit crime: "possessed by an evil spirit" is a common explanation for what we now know to be either a psychological disorder (sociopathy, for one thing) or a moment of foggy mind (unstoppable anger). Hell, we have developed quite a bit of philosophy on the matter - for a long time, too! - to help figure out what the world is, who people are, what life is and what its meaning is.

People then, today, and still tomorrow will seek simple answers to big questions that leave us confused and scared. Why do you think politicians use sound bites? Why do you think the circle jerk of the month on Reddit can be so strong at times? We as individuals have a hard time tackling big issues and religion offering simple answers, for right or for wrong, for better or for worse, is just one way this very large part of our humanity is expressed.

Have you read Albert Camus' or Jean-Paul Sartre's works? It's astonishing how they resonate with the experiences I've had. I'm sure there are plenty those whose thoughts will resonate with others.

No. Though I'm sure if I asked you the same for Tich Nhat Hanh, Desmond Tutu, or Rumi, you'd probably say the same thing. Here's what's both amazing and wonderful though. I bet you that if I read Camus or Sartre, I would find things that resonate with me and I'd find agreeable. The same could be said if I put the writings of Hafiz under your nose and said “Please, read.” We have an innate talent for taking what we read and finding ways where it applies to us as individuals, where it applies to the moments we find ourselves in our lives. Sometimes some things resonate with us at certain periods of our lives more strongly than others. I'm not saying that to invalidate what you've read or how you feel about it. I am saying though that the same mechanism that draws you to those philosophers draws other people to religious writings. Hell, the same mechanism is what draws us to literature, music, and art. We desire to feel connected to the world around us.

Yet, people today seem reluctant to go away from religion and enter the world of scientific, rational explanation of things. I feel like this happens because those who went (or were conducted) early on into religious mindset were taught as if any sort of critical look is not required, that one has to just accept the given statements as universal truths and stop thinking about it (otherwise, many, if not most, of religious ideas crumble easily). So, when they confront something explained reasonably and rationally, their minds go into defensive because their truths are attacked (and "think not hard about anything" is often one of the truth, so maybe many perceive rational argument as an offense - but that's just an uneducated guess), thus refusing to acknowledge when something actually makes sense since it makes them accept the fact that their whole identity is at least somewhat incorrect or even outright wrong (which is a whole another issue I have with religion, for it allows people to hide behind the doctrines when the world "attacks" them, but that's another discussion altogether).

::Whistles:: That's a mouth full and a hard bit to tackle all at once. You're making some very broad generalizations that really don't have as much to do with religion as you think. They're actually more issues of scientific illiteracy and a poor education in general than religion as a boogy man. To throw some general examples your way, in the Bible (mostly in the books of Proverbs) are passages extolling the virtues of knowledge and wisdom over worldly goods. During the Dark Ages of Europe, much of the advancement in the world of math, science, philosophy and law was the result of Muslim Scholars in the Middle East (click every keyword there and you'll be introduced to a long list of influential Middle Easterners in each field). Religion was a central part of the European Renaissance both in the development of theology as well as in the patronization of the arts. Baha'is, a relatively modern religion, not only emphasize heavily the importance of education but also have the philosophy that science and religion can be harmonious. Similar trends can also be found if we look towards Eastern Religions as well, but at this point I'm sure you get the point. What I'm trying to say is that to say that religion is a hindrance knowledge is inaccurate. We are our own hindrance through neglect and carelessness.

Today, of all times, we have all the necessary knowledge and resources (the Internet is a major one, as it allows instantaneous connection for over a billion people from all over the world) to start building a society that's beneficial to the human-being [not a mistake]. We have psychology, we have philosophies, we have major sciences (both natural and humanities), we have the transnational connection, we have the energy sources and the knowledge of maintaining and developing them, we have the industrial base to produce and distribute massive amounts of cheap food - hell, we have the knowledge to develop "green" cheap food, as well!.. and that's me missing a whole bunch of important things. We can start educating people about themselves, about each other, about the world in ways no previous generation might have envisioned.

Almost every generation, we get better. Progress on the scale that you're hoping for isn't attainable in the span of a few generations, let alone overnight. Look back up to my original post. Look at that timeline. The more we progress, the better we become. The better we become, the faster we progress. We are on a cycle of continuous growth, continuous progress. It's happening and it's happening right before our eyes and it's wonderful to see when you see it. You have to keep something in mind though. It's easy for an individual to change quickly. Institutions though, whatever form they may take, often change at a painfully slow rate.

We can bloody start by stopping telling people they're inferior just because a moneybag somewhere is lacking internal measures of self-esteem and some sort of ideals. We can start by telling them that they matter, no matter their thoughts, tastes or preferances of sexual behavior; that it's their actions that define how others see them, that it's not normal to prejudge or assume oneself to be superior to others. Seeing the France's terror acts (was it the second major one for the year? that's horrendous) makes me think that religion in general is a major obstacle for that. I don't give a shit whether it's Valhalla, the 72 virgins, karma or the omnipotent male God: if it hinders personal and/or group development for some oddjob sense of security which doesn't fucking exist anyway, it's to be disposed of. As far as the human mind is concerned, the world is essentially random, but just because you can't comprehend it you aren't allowed to trap others - let alone yourself - in a cage of mind or treat everyone as if they're innately faulty and sinful as if it's better for someone, especially if it's for a being no one but the indoctrinated can sense in any way.

People who are susceptible and vulnerable to being manipulated and taken advantage of are at the mercy of the entire world around them. They can be taken advantage of from everything from religious extremists and cults to gangs to abusive spouses to their own government. The reasons are many, from poverty to mental health to just plain bad luck. You're looking at a nasty aspect of religion and want to blame religion as a whole because of it. Here's the thing though. That nastiness, it's found everywhere, not just religion. It's part of being human. It's part of being flawed. If this is something you're concerned about, which it seems like it is, take comfort in the fact that there are social programs abound, local, national, and international that exist to find people who are either currently being victimized or at risk of being victimized and trying to help them as best as possible. They can't help everyone and they can't always succeed, but they're doing what they can to make the world a better place.

So that's what I think the difference is. We finally have major potential to make the world - our world, common world - a better place for everyone, and religion of most kinds is a hinderance for that with their fear-ridden doctrines and scaremongering of the masses.

Philipians 4:8 is a great passage of the Bible. It reads . . .

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Does that sound like scaremongering or does that sound like encouragement? What would you say if I could find similar passages or concepts from almost any major religion?

You yourself said in response to someone else in the thread that human morality has developed over time for religion to disallow slavery along with the "secular world" (as if they're so separate). Maybe human mind will soon enough develop to understand just how powerful humans are, and how powerful fears can be if we feed them. Right now, we can start by raising the right questions. "How can we reign in the anxiety we all experience from birth?" is a good one, don't you think?

We're making progress. It's not always visible. It's not always easy. It's not always clean. But it's there. Like every other aspect of humanity, religion can help us or it can hurt us. It all depends on the choices we make.