I have the controversial opinion that religion damages society in an intrinsic way. If we promote the acceptance of unscientific beliefs as the foundation of society (social behaviour and policies), we create risk.

Most religious beliefs are harmless, but statistically, since they are not based on science but on sheer arbitrary rules, it is inevitable that, just like broken clocks are right twice a day, there will be a large trail of harmful behaviour left behind by this tolerance. Anti-vaxxers, cultists and demagogues are just the tip of the iceberg.

We condemn anti-vaxxers, for example, but only doing this and not condemning the actual cause behind them is like treating a tumour only by extracting the ugliest parts. If our civilisation is based on faulty decision-making, it is inevitable that faulty results will happen. These faulty results might be harmless sometimes, but oftentimes they present themselves as famines, genocides, mass suicides and many other terribly harmful events.

Accepting religion, thus, is promoting the corruption of civilisation and the continuity of much of the harm and injustice that happens around the world.