[moorobot]

Don't misinterpret my post as stating that I am a proponent of religion on pragmatic grounds. Far from it; religiosity in an individual is good for the person who believes in it but bad for the people that person interacts with, as the replies you gave in 2-3 and 5 illustrate.

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1) It allows them to fear death less as well as to feel less saddened and get on with there lives when a relative dies through denial, which is well known to be a great coping mechanism.

[/ QUOTE ] I wouldn't say this is equal to denial. Denial in this case would be person X believing person Y is not really dead i.e. actually is alive in the non-afterlife. Religious people aren't walking around claiming that the corporeal body of true believers is still functioning.

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4) It allows them to cope with not finding self-realization , happiness etc. in this world, as they will find it in the next in their imaginations, which is really a lot better than actually finding self-realization.

[/ QUOTE ] Actually finding self-realization, however, is a lot more difficult than simply positing that they will someday have it for many people. To illustrate why this is important via analogy, consider whether it is better to have a 90% chance of winning $100 or a 30% chance of winning $200.