And now, let's hear the other side of the argument.

RicOlie_2 said:

1. Hope: religion often provides hope in an afterlife.

There is no evidence of any existence beyond the one we're currently experimenting. If you're gonna be good, do it for the sake of it, not for some sort of reward you're going to get at the pearly gates.

Quoting Queen.... Who wants to life forever????

2. Happiness: religion and prayer have been shown to increase happiness in multiple studies.

So have done many, many opium derivatives.

3. Explanation of the supernatural.

Again, no evidence whatsoever of any "supernatural".

4. Unification: this is debatable, but in theory, if everyone followed one religion there would be a lot fewer problems in the world, depending on the religion.

And everything would be really gray and boring, which is why I'm fine with people having different ideas, opinions, and that includes religion, too. People are always going to find something to disagree on.

5. Community: by sharing beliefs and meeting every so often, communities of people are formed and people have a chance to meet with people who share their beliefs.

In theory. In practice churches are a nest for gossips in fur coats.

6. It explains the origins of the universe (science does this, but it doesn't give a very satisfactory answer).

Religion will always say one thing. [Insert message here]

Science can't be and doesn't want to be definitive. Our understanding of gravity, for example, has chanced during the centuries. Because science is not a doctrine.

I don't get the "satisfactory" part.

7. Religion gives life meaning and purpose in a way that cannot be without religion.

Not everything is supposed to have a meaning, I'm afraid. We, as humans, have this ingrained reaction to all the things we do not understand, and that is trying to give them an explanation, a meaning.

Meanings are meaningless. It's all in the gooey gray and white matter inside our boney skulls.