Comments by "Harry Mills" (@harrymills2770) on "Apparent insider attack kills at least 17 Afghan police, army personnel: Rpt" video.
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Sometimes religion is the main bulwark against oppression. It's a strong unifying/organizing force, like a labor union. It's good to have around in bad times. Some of the most progressive movements in human history were spearheaded by conscientious leaders of faith.
As a semi-superstitious agnostic, I think Hitchens missed a lot of the GOOD that religion brought. Without such an organizing principle, much good that has been done over the centuries by true believers that otherwise would have been left un-done. Many people who just get up each morning and make life possible and sometimes just BETTER, because their faith tells them it's the right thing to do, to take care of their bodies, because it is what God would want them to do, and so forth.
Sure, any hierarchy is subject to capture by the malevolent or simply the incompetent. Sure, believing in something that can't be seen, felt, smelt, or heard is nutty, but getting up every morning and doing the mundane stuff is also kind of nutty if there's no ultimate payoff and the whole thing is futile. Seeing yourself as part of something bigger is very beneficial to many people.
What I'm trying to say is that if there were zero religion, maybe we wouldn't all be here in the first place, with full bellies and the leisure time to poke holes in our superstitions.
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