Is religion harmful?

[GoodCallYouWin]

In the Virus of Faith Dawkins argues that Faith is a virus and extremely disastrous. Does Religion cause harm? Or does the good from religion outweigh the harm it causes?

[luckyme]

Only if inhaled.

luckyme

[ThreeMartini]

Not if used in moderation.

[kerowo]

As long as you control the religion and it doesn't control you I think you are alright.

[m_the0ry]

There is no practice more degenerate and damaging than faith.

[kerowo]

[ QUOTE ]
There is no practice more degenerate and damaging than faith.

[/ QUOTE ]

Only because religion has been at it for a long time. Those without faith haven't done such a bang up job of things either.

[m_the0ry]

Faith has been detrimental to humanity since its conception, and certainly religion is not dependent on faith as we can see from the practice of Buddhism. Faith is the chink in the armor of human rationale - it delivers blinding happiness at the cost of awareness. It is not religion or spirituality that is harmful; it is faith that makes a religion so easy to propagate and sustain, and faith that makes every act in its name unjustifiable.

"The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason." ~ Benjamin Franklin

[kerowo]

[ QUOTE ]
Faith has been detrimental to humanity since its conception, and certainly religion is not dependent on faith as we can see from the practice of Buddhism. Faith is the chink in the armor of human rationale - it delivers blinding happiness at the cost of awareness. It is not religion or spirituality that is harmful; it is faith that makes a religion so easy to propagate and sustain, and faith that makes every act in its name unjustifiable.

"The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason." ~ Benjamin Franklin

[/ QUOTE ]

Tell it to Stalin.

[Metric]

I don't think faith is by definition a bad thing. I tend to think of the following psychological scale:

constant faith 1--2--3--4--5--6--7--8--9--10 constant re-analysis

If you expend all of your energy re-analyzing and second guessing the rationale behind what you are doing, you will never get anything done. And likewise, if you simply attach yourself to the first idea you're exposed to and never re-think its foundatons, you stand a very good chance of wasting your efforts on the development of lousy ideas.

[PantsOnFire]

Like many things in life, it can be harmful if misused.