People who hate religion are numerous, outspoken, self-righteous, & very sure that there's no legitimate reason to participate in organized religion. They often haven't been near a house of worship in decades (they announce proudly) & have no idea that things may have changed, or that their understanding & education, which stopped when they were a child, can mature. I very mildly said something to this effect as a comment to an advice column, & that many religions and churches have taken the lead in important causes. I myself go, I added, for the community, the community organizing, the quiet, and the music, not the "sky daddy" (a phrase they love to throw around).
Wow. Here are two of the replies:
* That's you. That's not the people trying hard to drag us back to the dark ages, where only white men had the power and ability to do anything-which they turned to abuse. Religion is absolutely dangerous and idiotic.
* So you're going to church and pretending to believe in their god, just to have some friends and listen to music? And you think that's virtuous. Most communities have plenty of non-religious opportunities for community involvement. Join a service club. Join a community chorus. Join a yoga class. You don't have to be pretend-religious. (This commenter, by the way, had already had an earlier reply, where she called me a hypocrite, killed by the moderator for not meeting community standards.)
I could say that throughout history, the most brilliant & thoughtful people have largely been religious. I could say that perhaps the people they look down on for being churchgoers would be worse off without it. I could certainly argue against many people's claims in this thread that they came up with ethical behavior entirely on their own. Sure, people can commit to many causes greater than themselves but why so hostile to those who choose this particular way of being in the world?