[FS]

When I was a couple of years younger and thought I had the whole world figured out, I too thought religion was the true root of evil in the world, but that is naive.

Most religions stimulate some excellent human qualities. Unconditional love for your fellow man. Helping those less fortunate in society.

The problem, as has been said (better) by others in this thread, is that human psychology and sociology abuses religion. Whether conscious or unconscious, people make it into a catalyst of their fears and hatred. They read into the religion the way they want to. Then there's politicians and religious leaders throughout history, who've exploited the unifying and compelling power of religion over people to serve their purposes.

A man alone can be very smart. A group of them is much sooner and much more often, very very dumb. That is why someone who sees religion as a personal issue is much more likely to have healthy contacts with people who don't believe or believe differently than someone who feels the need to convert others to his religion in order to prevent them from being damned in the end.

Frankly, it disgusts me when someone states their form of belief online and is abused for it, like it's some kind of weird weakness.