Exploring the Notion of Religion Being Bad and Its Variance

The idea that religion is bad is compared to stating that politics is bad because of the diverse beliefs within religious doctrines. While religious beliefs can lead to harmful outcomes due to false doctrines, the criticism often revolves around faith-based thinking, sacrificing evidence for wishful thinking. Despite potentially leading to indoctrination and radicalization, faith-based thinking might bring happiness, raising the question of whether truth or happiness is the ultimate goal. Critics argue that convincing people to abandon faith for truth might not necessarily lead to their happiness, as some argue that maximizing pleasure and minimizing suffering should be the moral goal. This shift in perspective might explain the decline in new atheism, where the concern about people's happiness leads some to refrain from spreading the idea of atheism even if they still believe it to be true.