Hazards of Religion

See Criticism of Religion HERE from Wikipedia
8 Ugly Sins of the Catholic Church

The 12 worst ideas religion has unleashed on the world

20 Reasons to abandon Christianity

Once I received an email asking what the hazards of religion are.  It didn’t take me long to make this short list below.

It is not what people believe, but it is what follows their belief as behavior that is harmful. Actually most atheists will support the idea that anyone can believe anything they want – but the atheists do not have to respect WHAT the believers believe, especially when if does harm to others.    If you are a believer, some of these items might not be ‘your’ religion, but they all stem from the Abrahamic religions.

Morals decisions should be made on the amount of human suffering, not religious tenants.

  1. 911 – nuf said. No, more needs to be said.  The highjackers committed this atrocity because they truly believed that not only were they going straight to heaven but bringing 70 of their closest relatives to heaven as well.   And they were educated men – all had bachelors degrees, several had masters and one was engaged.
  2. Stem cell research is hindered because politicians want to protect a supernatural ‘soul’ therefore delaying medical discoveries that will heal thousands in the future.
  3. Religious-based abstinence programs actually cause MORE pregnancies and MORE abortions than sex-education programs.
  4. Preventing condoms from being distributed in AIDS- infested countries.  This one religious policy accounts for tens of thousands of lives.
  5. Parents hating their gay children because they believe they are going to a mythical hell increase the odds of suicide by that child.
  6. In Africa, many pseudo-priests are convincing parents to turn against their own children after telling them that their children are bewitched.  Sometimes a year’s salary is paid to the ‘priest’
  7. In America, children are denied medical care because parents think the only way to cure them is thru prayer (see whatstheharm.net)
  8. Sexual child abuse – not only by Catholic priests but by many moderately Christian ministers – worldwide
  9. All religions give no property taxes to government, but this wasn’t always  so – it was the religious infusion into politics which changed this.  We need their property taxes more than ever now.  Plus ministers and even janitors can claim a ‘housing allowance if they work for a religious organization, increasing the tax burden for the rest of us.
  10. Male and female genital mutilation is done for one reason – religious traditions and sexual control of females.
  11. The Dark Ages – 900 years of scientific repression.  The only areas on earth which prospered were China and Persia – both without the Christian religious stranglehold on science.  Where would we be now if the dark ages (or Christianity) never existed?
  12. The Crusades and the Inquisition – some say 250,000 and some say up to a million from but brutal murders.
  13. Jim Jones, Heaven’s Gate, Branch Davidians, and hundreds more who perished because of their beliefs while inside their cults. Christianity started as a cult..
  14. The psychological damage of those children who live in fear of damnation – some call it mental abuse.
  15. Some REALLY stupid things that religioous sects do (again see whatstheharm.net)
  16. The rejection of same-sex couples to have the same rights as others, especially federal rights which opposite sex couples have.
  17. Christianity has previously denounced the rights of slaves, women’s right to vote, interracial marriage, in vitro fertilization, and now, gay rights.
  18. Christianity has previously and is still inhibiting scientific research – from the sun being the center of the solar system to cloning and the designing of DNA.  All efforts by religion have hampered science and prolonged the suffering of others.
  19. Religion inhibits women’s rights by wanting to FORCE women to have babies.  Unbelievable!

These are just a few.  There are hundreds more.  Religion causes orders of magnitude more human suffering than any one thing on earth – but it doesn’t matter to them because there is a  mythical eternal heaven to (not) go to.  The fear of hell and a reward of heaven  is a powerful force which changes people’s behavior from rational to delusional.