Does religion help or hurt the world

Lisa Miller of Newsweek says the debate is getting stale. Atheists trumpet their "gotcha" arguments and accuse religion of being a pox on humanity. Christians respond on how much good their religion has done for the world. Both sides congratulate their own members on how well they defeat the other side without actually doing so. Been there. Done that. Have the t-shirt. Let's move on. To…

People like atheist Jennifer Hecht and her book Doubt; A History in which she says when exploring questions of faith one should look with the eyes of a poet, not a scientist.

And people like Greg Epstein and his book Good Without God arguing that people can have religion -- community, morality, transcendence -- without the supernatural. The larger debate can include ethics, progress, tolerance, science and other big issues and whether religion is currently fostering or hampering these goals.

To be fair, Dawkins, Hitchens, and the rest of the loudest atheists have had one positive effect. The 12% of Americans who are atheist now have a voice in the public debate and aren't viewed with as much suspicion.

At this point I can imagine a friend (not my debate partner) accusing me of being a closeted Unitarian/Universalist. I'll respond to that charge by sharing an image I found recently.