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Who says that's what I was doing?
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I've seen you make the argument before that if you don't follow the bible to the letter you're not a real Christian. You might have been being facetious but it's hard to tell with you when a topic particularly gets your goat.
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Regardless of how you interpret it, the proof of harm is everywhere. These religions cause a great deal more harm than good, and they always have.
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Religion is hardly the only thing that's ever been usurped for political purposes. It's almost definitely the easiest to usurp and the most triumphant example of, though. That claim is meaningless though, because it can't be proven. Religion is a natural thing that happens in the development of society. You can't stop it
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And let's not forget that they aren't real. That seems like a particularly important point to me.
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A religion's sole value isn't in its epistemological claims. Religion is simply a natural expression of a cultural identity.
I'm not saying that some religions aren't nasty and gross or that fairly straightforward interpretations of any Abrahamic holy book won't lead you to evil conclusions, but denouncing the concept or religion or claiming one religion is superior to others helps extremist views spread. Extremists believe we're evil or corrupt or unenlightened or whatever and the best way to prove them right is to deride and mock what they've built their lives around.