(some people are going to find this post offensive, because it's true; if you have counterpoints, please feel free to give them, but don't get mad...)
Except religion/spirituality doesn't:
- Make accurate predictions about the future.
- Improve upon itself.
- Explain newly discovered phenomena in the world.
- Give us rational basis for believing what it says to be true, but expects one to believe its premises on base assertions or similar.
- Most of all, it doesn't produce results like science has. Religion doesn't invent airplanes or cure disease (even though it likes to claim it cures disease...wonder why God has never answered the prayers of an amputee...)
So, these facts naturally lead me to the conclusion that religion is not yet a viable answer to the world's problems. In fact, what religion HAS produced are mostly problems of its own:
- Crusades
- Inquisitions
- Witch hunts
- Silly superstitions
- Cultural traditions that people so desperately hold on to that they retard political, educational/social, and scientific progress so as to hang onto these traditions.
- And I'd be unfair if I didn't name the positive things religion has done, which happens to be summed up in one point: It gives emotional solace and emotional security to those that look to it for such. Unfortunately for religion, these things can be found in more productive activities.
I know some of you will probably rage at this. That's fine, I'm just explaining my point of view on the deal. Religion has produced pretty much nothing, and is far from being a solution to the world's problems. In fact, it's been a prime aggregate of trouble. What's worse is these things are not isolated incidents (with the exception of the inquisition). Religious wars are constantly raging on the Earth (Israel/Palestine for one...), religion is constantly retarding progress, and silly superstitions are still rampant (I've read a crazy stat that went something like: 50% of Americans think the rapture will be in the next 10 years...). Even witch hunts are still propagated by religious interests (why do you think all the "terrorists" are Muslim?). Ok, that last one may be a small stretch, but the rest are reasonable.
Religion has been a constant block on reason and progress. It's not isolated and corrupt "once in a while."