"Negative effects of religion:
1. Many religions teach that some people will go to hell after they die. That’s a pretty dark thing to believe. It’s pretty harsh to say that someone deserves to suffer for all eternity.
2. Some religious groups go even further and claim that you have be in their religion to earn salvation, which would imply that anyone outside their religion would automatically go to hell. That is an appalling thing to believe.
3. Also, some religious people worry that they themselves might go to hell, which is a source of unnecessary anxiety in their lives (since, after all, hell is probably not real).
4. Some religions, especially the Catholic Church, have a long history of trying to suppress human sexuality, even when it’s completely normal and healthy sexuality. And when it gets suppressed, people don’t learn how use it.
5. Many religions teach (or previously taught) that homosexuality is immoral. By doing so, they have ostracized the gay community.
6. Some religions have a long history of silencing and oppressing women.
7. Some religions have a culture that turns a blind eye towards physical and/or sexual abuse.
8. Religion has played a role in many wars throughout world history. (But please note: if people didn’t have religion, I’m sure they would’ve found something else to start a war over.)
9. Many holy books, including both the Bible and the Qur’an, contain some passages which are bizarre and violent and which have inspired some fundamentalists to commit bizarre and violent actions.
10. In the past, religious beliefs were used as a reason for executing or sacrificing people. (In some parts of the world, that still happens.)
11. Religion sometimes encourages people to be ascetic and delay happiness until the afterlife, rather than enjoying this life while we have it.
12. Religion sometimes teaches people to accept injustice as God’s will, rather than to fight against it. (This was Karl Marx’s criticism.)
13. Religion sometimes displays a patronizing attitude towards poor people in the Third World.
14. In Christianity, some of Jesus’ teachings are rather extreme (e. g. “sell all that you have”).
15. In some countries, religion has too much influence on the government.
16. Some religious groups encourage people to vote for political candidates who are opposed to any sort of progress, just because they are socially conservative.
17. Religion teaches people not to question things.
18. Religion has a history of resisting the development of science.
19. Some religious people, inspired by their beliefs, refuse to listen to good medical advice, and refuse medical treatment.
20. Religion fosters a belief in superstitions (e. g. the idea that if you pray for something, God will make it happen).
21. Related to this, religion teaches people to believe in some doctrines which are very unlikely to be true and which an intelligent person should not otherwise believe. An example would be the Catholic doctrine of the Virgin Birth of Christ, which — let’s be honest — is probably not true.
22. Some religious groups place too much emphasis on following the letter of the law with regard to their rules, dress, rituals, etc.
23. Religion fosters an attitude of contempt towards people who are less religious.24. Some religious communities are very insular and fear the outside world.
25. Some (very extreme) religious groups believe that the end of the world is imminent and that we need to prepare for the end-times. That is a very irrational and self-destructive thing to believe."
