Where Does Religion Do Harm


Religion plays a role in many societal problems. There are people who are happy, maybe happier, because of their religion so that is on the plus side of the scale. When religion actually plays a role in harm it must be acknowledged. For decades I have heard that Christianity and Islam discourage people from getting professional help for mental problems. This harm done to people should be called a sin. Recently a Muslim doctor related his experiences with Muslims who believe it is against their faith to seek medical help for mental problems. I wish it were possible to know how many people suffer needlessly from mental illness because their religion frowns on professional treatment. It surely must cross or be close to the million mark.

When I first started blogging a decade or so ago a man from Bismark, ND, wrote to ask please stop my blogging because, "It will stir up trouble. Just leave religion alone." To me, it is a public service to point out the dangers of certain aspects of religion. That it can harm people should not be ignored. Instead of me stopping this blog maybe religions should stop making bogus claims and harming people.

One place religion plays with people's minds in a harmful way is homosexuality. Various states and cities are trying to stop this harm by outlawing the Christian "treatment" called "conversion therapy" and "reparative therapy." These ruses start with the belief same sex attraction is a sin. In Christianity, "sin" must be presented to the deity to be resolved. Many thousands of gay people were conned into spending time and money being condemned for their sin and praying to the god would take it away. Reparative therapy has been both unsuccessful at changing homosexuality and harmful to those who entered its domain. 

As we speak considerable harm is being done to young people who have found they were labeled with the wrong gender at birth. Christianity is being used to say these young people are wrong about how their own conclusions. They are called sinners and the belief is they can and must revert their thinking to believe they are the gender assigned them at birth. There can be no doubt that, just as Christianity harmed homosexual people, trans people will be unable to change how they self-identify and some will be killed by haters (some are killed every month) and others will commit suicide. 

I hope one day religion will see the error of its ways. 



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