Well, I've been wanting to post on this thread for a while, so here it goes.
I think religion is great. It teaches people how to be amazing. Most religions have a lot in common with others; I once saw a list of twenty traits that every major religion in the world teaches and was surprised by the similarities. If the majority of the world belongs to a major, positive-trait-seeking religion, then I think humanity will continue to progress and do great things. Religion has also famously been called "the opiate for the masses", meaning people often use religion to make themselves happier and more content with life on Earth. In my opinion, that is a good thing.
As for the actual truth of any religion on Earth, I don't know... and I doubt anyone knows completely for sure. I know people have great faith, but I think supposedly "knowing" a religion is true is a stretch. According to scientific principles, in order to be able to claim something exists, it has to be observable with one of the senses. This argument is often countered by either claiming that religion is something indescribable, or something felt, or by claiming that they do have proof. Historical documents and modern historians agree that religious figures and founders such as Christ and Muhammad did indeed exist and perform supposed miracles. However, those events occurred so long ago and the documents have often been tampered with so much that nobody knows for sure what they actually did in their lives.
Another great evidence for religion is what
cadecranda mentioned above: Earth and the universe are so beautiful and orderly that they couldn't have possibly been created by chance. It is indeed true that things like Earth and life itself are extraordinarily rare in the universe, which brings up a mind-boggling truth.
The universe is a two part relationship between the universe and the observer. If the universe did not exist, you would not exist. If you did not exist, the universe would be neither nothing nor anything. It would simply be a giant question mark, never to be seen or appreciated. It could be anything from an electron to a multidimensional void without laws of physics to quite literally everything, but it wouldn't matter. This is why many atheists often view their death as the end of the universe. This is also why many people are scared of death, as well as why humans often feel a need to make up explanations for what happens after death, which could be true.
This brings me to my next point: Earth could simply be as fantastic as it is because we are here to observe it. Perhaps we are the only intelligent life in the universe because of the extreme luck required, and we will thus be the only ones to ever build a great Taj Mahal and understand the grandeur of everything.
Moving onto more controversial and opinionated stuff...
A common argument used against evolution is the concept of irreducible complexity. This states that certain structures, such as the human eye and famously, the tale of bacterial flagellum, are too fragile in their structure to have come about by nature. The bacterial flagellum has 21 muscles in its tail, and without every single one, the tail would be rendered useless, and therefore never could have come about by evolution due to death of any species "lucky" enough to develop part of that tail. Keep in mind that this argument has lost traction in the past five or so years due to new research, but in 2008 a company tried to publish a textbook concerning this for use in public education, entitled
Of Pandas and People. It argued that an arbitrary "intelligent designer" aided evolution, and that the creation of Earth came not entirely by chance. After losing one vital court case, though, the movement lost all of its momentum.
The Intelligent Design movement was accused of simply being a substitute for "God's Design", which came to light after a document was found that forgot to replace the word "God" with "Intelligent", which was the crippling blow in the court case. However, the argument brought up about Earth simply being a haven of observance could also be effectively used to counter the irreducible complexity argument.
But what if all modern understandings of evolution, physics, and radiometric dating was found to have one or several major, unavoidable flaws, therefore making creationism the only valid argument for the explanation of the universe? (I have no idea how this would happen...) Would that really change the political outlook of religion on Earth? Would it really solve any issues in the middle east between the Sunnis and Shiites, or could it have prevented the splitting of India into three separate countries? Likely, people would fight just like they always have. Many religions claim to be the only true religion, but how can they all claim that? There is either one true religion, no true religion, or we live in a strange reality in which truths are based more solely on the Placebo Effect than actual proof, therefore suggesting that religion and logic are not what we imagined, and humans are far more powerful than we thought. (Don't count on the last one.)
I personally think it is downright egotistic and ignorant to claim that oneself knows that they belong to the one and only true religion. It's possible, but considering how thickly religion has tied into history and politics, how it has changed over time, and even cultural differences of a single sect seems to suggest that if there is a true religion, it is tied to very loosely figures, laws, and commandments. I think an open-minded approach to religion is best; one must watch out for false speculators.
The inconsistency of my religion has always bugged me. I have heard everything from sexist/racist commentary based on scripture to those claiming that the Earth is 6,000 years old, to those claiming that the universe is as old as the Earth. I have seen supposed Christian doctrine get wrapped into practical factions within my religious community, as well as supposed fanatics claiming to be better than normal adherents of my religion. I saw my religion get attacked on all fronts, including from my own household and mind. I saw my father pass away at age 15, which caused a severe hatred for the world that no amount of "love from God" seemed to be able to cure. I never could wrap my head around the events that followed, other than the fact that most supposed good adherents of my religion seemed to live much easier lives than those who had fallen away, suggesting that religion is often more about community than truth. To one who sought such logic and pure truth, this was too much for my pathetic little mind at the age of 15 to understand, and I officially yet secretly left my religion nearly a year ago.
At first, I sunk further into depression, as I had nothing to "lean on." But after learning to listen to my own heart and learning to better take initiative of my own life, I began to see a new reality that was very different, yet in some ways better than what I left behind. I pulled out of depression this summer, which is so great you can't even imagine it... I discovered that my religion lied to me about a lot of things, which I couldn't see till I left it. Some of those lies included the idea that only its adherents were truly pure and complete people, that life would be bleak and colorless without my religion, that religious people are always stronger, and that making myself pure and polished is more moral than seeking to help the entire human race.
Of course, nobody can live a baseless life, which is why I have my own religion. I simply call it "Exploration." The goal of this religion is extraordinarily simple: One must do everything in their power to use their talents and resources to advance the exploration of the beautiful universe, which cannot exist or be admired without intelligent life. Exploring the universe comes in many forms, but it is always pleasurable. Morality in this religion is based on empathy, in which one tries to do what is best for the human race and the environment, as if one can the feel pain and yearnings that others feel.
I am now happier than I have been in years, and I have been doing better as I have become more open to others about my feelings and I have sought to advance the human race as a whole rather than myself. I guess you could say neither religion nor hard atheism are for everyone, but everyone will be happier if they choose something to believe in and become dedicated to it.
Waiting on the fence to decide where you belong in life causes nothing but sorrow, and it keeps us from reaching our full potential.
-Bito
