Another benefit of religion I mentioned before was that of comfort. The idea that when you die, you get to see all your former cats again and eat all the ice cream you want is certianly one in which anyone contemplating mortality can find solace in. (define heaven to taste, of course.)
However, just because something is comforting doesn’t make it true, nor does it make believing it a good idea either. I, for instance, believe that cheeseburgers are healthy. A comforting thought: I can eat cheeseburgers 4x a day and not worry a bit about trans fat or cholesterol. I will also probably need gastric bypass surgery before I’m 19.
There’s no cholesterol in God or in heaven, though, so it doesn’t seem like faith is very harmful. Maybe in moderation, it isn’t. Although the individual in question may waste his time in mosques or synogogues or churches, he doesn’t seem to suffer any ill effects.
Some argue that there are ill effects, though I don’t think of them as particularily grave ones.
1. Life choices.
We can suppose that an individual would look at his life differently if he thought he had eternal bonus time afterwards. If, on the other hand, he reasonably supposes that this is all he gets, he will probably value his life more. (Is this better? I don’t know. It may be worse, by placing unnecessary worry on him.) In the real world, though, this doesn’t really hold up. I would bet that if a poll were taken, people of faith value life just as much as nonbelievers.
2. Children. Richard Dawkins makes an excellent point regarding the indoctrination of children. Basically, it’s bad, and we shouldn’t do it. People wouldn’t expose their 5-year-olds to politics or general relativity, so why do people expose children to the notion of an omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient metaphysical being who created the universe? Most 5-year-olds I know lack the ability to make informed choices as to what theological belief system they wish to associate themselves with, if any. Dawkins goes as far as to say that indoctrination of one’s children is child abuse. I think I’d stop at calling it tremendously bad parenting.
In conclusion, the comforts of faith don’t make its claims true; the several harmful side-effects of religion make it not the fuzzy security blanket it first appears to be.
