“I have increasingly, over the years, felt that religion today does our civilization more harm than good.”
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It is only partly true that religion does more harm than good in society. The community makes God into the image it wants, vengeful, or milky sweet, or scrupulously just, and so on.
It seems true that the growth of science and secularism made organized Christianity feel under threat.
It is very reasonable to worry about the harm done by organized religion, and to prefer looser and more private arrangements.
I am sure it must be true that people opt out of the mainstream society because they feel that there are going to be no rewards for them, if they stay.
