imperialscum said:

darth_ender said:

But to say religion is just nonsense is, in fact, nonsense. Religion is built into humanity. Even most who do not believe in deity in any form still engage in religious-like behaviors and rituals, whether they realize it or not. It too is a part of humanity.

The only useful thing about religion are some (emphasis on some) of the moral standards it teaches. Pretty much everything else is a nonsense, such as time-wasting rituals and stupid stories like creationism and life after death.

And in the end you don't really need a religion to abide the high moral standards.

Let's see...religion gave us, and continues to give many of us, a standard of morals we could all live by together instead of all coming up with our own; meaning in people's lives; hospitals and charities, which you'll note didn't exist before some saintly people started taking in the sick and the poor and helping them out--because of their religious beliefs; and not least, it allowed society and civilization to flourish through the way it unified people so that they had one common goal; one common belief that brought them together and allowed them to be a nation rather than simply a large group of individuals.

Even if those things were the only benefits religion had provided humanity, and it was all nonsense, it would be worth it.