I don't disagree with any of the following, but add the caveat that religious institutions are susceptible to become breeding grounds for cant, magical thinking, groupthink, intolerance.
I don't accuse all religious institutions of these flaws. However the danger is always present where conformity to magical thinking is mandatory. jrs On May 19, 2014, at 12:48 PM, Heather Madrone wrote: > The mythology of religion might be bunk, but religious practices have deep > psychological truth in them. There might be no one out there to pray to, the > practice of prayer is grounding and centering. Parts of all religious books > were written by some of the wisest human beings of their times. You can glean > much of value if you can translate those writings into terms you can > understand and accept. > > Similarly, there is much of value in a sincere religious community. Becoming > a deeper and more compassionate human being is a worthy goal in the latter > part of one's life, and a good religious community can be extremely > supportive in that endeavor. Religious communities are also superlative at > helping people face illness, death, and dying with grace and loving support. > Many religious communities are also involved in various worthy projects to > which we can contribute.
