I spent a long time really pissed about religion in general, and really vocal about it, too. I don't regret that; I came by it honestly, and I'll bet you did too. There's a joke Aleister Crowley told I saw quoted by Alan Moore somewhere that convinced me to be more cautious about when I spoke up

There is the story of the American in the train who saw another American carrying a basket of unusual shape. His curiosity mastered him, and he leant across and said: "Say, stranger, what you got in that bag?" The other, lantern-jawed and taciturn, replied: "mongoose". The first man was rather baffled, as he had never heard of a mongoose. After a pause he pursued, at the risk of a rebuff: "But say, what is a Mongoose?" "Mongoose eats snakes", replied the other. This was another poser, but he pursued: "What in hell do you want a Mongoose for?" "Well, you see", said the second man (in a confidential whisper) "my brother sees snakes". The first man was more puzzled than ever; but after a long think, he continued rather pathetically: "But say, them ain't real snakes". "Sure", said the man with the basket, "but this Mongoose ain't real either".

If an imaginary mongoose is what someone needs, I don't think it's fair to fault them. Of course some religions give people imaginary snakes instead, and those deserve your anger, but it's not obvious which is which from the outside. Better to let it go until it's being inflicted on people who didn't opt in.

'Unhealthy' is a very tame term for the kinds of awful things people do in the name of their god.

To be fair, people will do awful things when the mood strikes them and will find many different reasons to justify them. Religion, for a lot of people, is a very touchy subject. I find using terms that are less emotionally charged, such as "unhealthy," helps to keep conversations civil and respectful. Trust me, there's a lot of things that I've seen and learn that frustrate me just as much as they frustrate you.

I would never make the claim that religious people as a class are bad.

I'd never claim that you would either, to be honest. Just that, when it comes to discussing religion, it's important to chose our words carefully. Religion is something that permeates through our worlds history so broadly and so deeply, that the barriers that it has created between many people are so tall and so strong, it's much, much easier to add another brick into the wall than it is to take one out.

I will make the claim that in the modern day, the most active and popular religions often cause great harm to believers and non believers alike, and often even so called 'moderates' can be active participants in perpetuating that harm. I'll cite the example of Catholic Bishops protecting pedophile priests, and allowing them to continue to prey on the young for decades. I can cite more extreme examples and I'm going to choose not to.

I see where you're coming from. I do. I'd wager though, that in the modern day, with people who are more educated, more prosperous, and more able to share and receive information, that the ill influences of religion are steadily receding. Thanks to the internet and international news for example, the Catholic church is no longer able to sweep things under the rug anywhere near as easily as even fifty years ago. As an aside, and I'm sure you know this, when it comes to religious organizations (especially ones as massive as the Catholic Church), it's important to understand that there is a huge difference between the members of any said organization and the organization itself. There's give and take of course, because like I'm sure you would, I sometimes question the rationality of anyone being an active member of an organization that they don't trust and/or agree with. Martin Luther certainly had his grievances and he would not keep quiet about them and look how he changed the world as a result.

I'm all in favor of laying everything, good and bad about religion out in the open. I would also make a distinction between public, organized religion, and personal pursuits of spirituality or the search for meaning.

I think we're in agreement.