Spillover thead

[RolloTheGreat]

1. Vehicle for charity
2. Vehicle for community
3. Gives the downtrodden a sense of hope, reason to go on.
4. Gives a 90% good moral compass.
5. Gives comfort to the grieving
6. Provides a sense of order to the world.

You can have all of the above without needing religion.

Some people just need a crutch to lean on (usually people who can't be bothered thinking for themselves and want others to think for them) and manipulative types are only too happy to provide the crutch (for a price).

There's far more good than bad in what I listed, and that makes religion a positive aspect of the world.

The "primordial soup" random combination of chemicals is no more far fetched, and does not address where the chemicals came from.

I'm smart enough to realize I'm far too dumb to understand creation and the origins of the universe, and understand that what we know about the universe is almost nothing.

What is in the Bible is one of the possible answers, I certainly can't disprove it. Even some of my problems with it (God having human flaws like jealousy, wrath) might just be there because the information had to be dumbed down to our level or no one would have understood or believed.

If what they believe leads to good outcomes for them and society, why give it a negative label like a "crutch"?

In my life, I strive to smooth the road wherever I can, whether it's drawing on past speeches to prepare one, buying a tool that makes a job easier, buying the hobby equipment that improves the experience, consulting people with different areas of expertise to do my job, hiring people to do jobs I don't want to learn or would not do as well.

Are all of these "crutches" smoothing out my existence? Sure. I call it "living and working smart" and making my time on the planet as good as possible. Why disparage what works for them?