Is There a Way to Put a Dollar Value on Harm From Religion

If a child is told by parents, preachers and friends he/she is going to hell if she is gay, and realizes he is gay and cannot change, how does this person adjust and live on in a happy productive life? Thousands do not. The damage is permanent. It makes no sense that this keeps happening generation after generation. It is unnecessary.  In the link it is called the rape of a child's mind. 

A common trope from Christians when they talk about homosexuality is to say, "Statistics prove it. Homosexual people have more alcoholism, suicide and are generally not in as good health as their straight peers." These statistics are correct, but the reason for those problems is found in those whose religious views are cruel and harmful. Statistics also show gay children who are accepted and encouraged by their parents do just as well in school and in adulthood as straight children. The harm of religion is right there in the headlights. 

The harm of religion is now playing out in state legislatures across the U.S. Many laws have been passed about which rest rooms can be used by which children. Legislatures are banning books the gay or trans children read to learn about themselves. Here where I now live, Iowa, the religious Governor championed both the rest room bills and book ban bills. After the book ban triggered and went into effect a judge ruled it was too vague to be enforced. Several schools had already pulled some books from their shelves. After the judge's ruling some schools immediately put the banned books back on their shelves available to children. Other schools were less certain what to do and are wringing their hands and doing nothing. In these latter schools, the gay/trans children who benefited are now relegated to find information on their phones and lap tops.

I attended some local meetings of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays when I held a volunteer position with that organization. I recall a beautiful and confident woman in her late 20's showing up for the first time. This lesbian woman had brought her reluctant mother to the meeting to meet other parents and adult gay people. The mother was almost shaking in fear. Her daughter said Mom still harbored dislike of homosexuality and daughter hoped to broaden her knowledge about the subject. Also at the meeting was a gay man about 40 who was a successful businessman. He told his story that his parents had never accepted his gay orientation and they had not spoken for years. 

Why all of this anguish? Because religion has poisoned our society with false information and ideas. The sooner it is gone the better.