Religion as A Good Thing or Not

It's one of those things that get dragged into discussions these days. Is religion a good or bad thing?

It's a strange one. If you compare it to other, apparently similar, categories of activity, you might be able to come up with a conclusion - is it better or worse than, say, football supporting, watching 50 Shades of Grey or voting in the X-factor? Or, to put it another way, is it like considering whether a drug is effective or it's a good idea to spray sweetcorn with neonicotinoid pesticides? It presumes there's options to be considered.

Except that it's not quite like that.  In my personal case, religion is, primarily, a response to a sensed relationship with the Divine. In which case the question isn't is it useful, a good or bad thing. It's maybe like the question of whether the laws of Physics are true or not. It's no good asking oneself whether the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics is good or bad. It just is what it is. Then you have to work out what to do with it. Realise that tidying is futile, and pour salt on ice to melt it - these are things to do with the fact of Entropy. Debating whether it's any use to society - whether we want to live in untidy houses but not fall off our bikes when it's cold - these are kind of applied. They don't change the root observation.

So some religious practices are good, some are bad. But I shall continue my own religious observances as long as the waves roar the voice of the Creator, the heavens are enchanted with God's glory, and the image of God is imprinted on every child that is conceived.