My take? You Need to Define "Desease".

I think religion is born out of fear created by those who desire ultimate power and control.Organized religion must keep its members in a state of total dependency on its teachings with no room left for discernment. It relies on its own propaganda for continuance. At this point I do want to say that I believe in the historical person who is called Jesus. But I do not believe in the virgin birth, rising from the dead or the miracles. I do believe that a person existed who taught love and compassion and resistance to authority. The rest was made up in order to form a cult that would control a great number of people

Well there have been religious people who have made great contributions to our knowledge, the Priest who postulated the Big Bang Theory for one, some thing most religious institutions either embrace as a sign they are up on science or ostracize as being against Gods hand in things,

At one point, religion took on the role of counsellors and a haven for people unable to survive in the outside world. Priests were social workers long before governments established such institutions. Convents and monasteries provided havens for misfits and people with problems, such as autism, who desired a predictable, orderly life. (Some of whom, incidentally, produced noteworthy advances in scientific knowledge, once "safe" in their ordered environment.) Before the days of printing presses, these were the people who hand-copied manuscripts of great works - admittedly many of them religious, but not all.
So YES. Religion, at one time did make a useful contribution. The question should read - BUT AT WHAT PRICE?
Many monasteries became profit centres. Control of the masses was achieved by fear. Absolution for sins could be obtained by the purchase of "absolutions".
To this day, especially in the US, much of religion is a remarkably profitable business.

The Renaissance and all its artform and architecture; In particular a lot of classical music. Hayden, Mozart, Bach. Without the latter we still wouldn't even have properly tuned Pianos. )

It's easy to diss religion, but it used to be the thing that brought ppl together to achieve things as a unity. All those places of whorship.
Religion in its core has always been a good idea. It was organized religion that enabled and still enables a few individuals to gain control over a large group of people who just desperately seek guidance. Then they abuse that power in one way or another, conscioucly but more often just subconsciously because they themselves don't know any better.

Religion has only ever been a way for humans to create another criteria by which to control other humans. I have the big pointy hat, so you have to do what I say. I'm sure at some point, farther back in the annals of history than I care to delve at the end of a twelve hour shift, that kind of control may have been appreciated. For example, before modern day farming, it was much more important to keep your population below the amount of resources you had, so by introducing traditions like monogamy, maybe your village wouldn't starve.

Well, religion did pay for some great art and architecture. But that wad a long time ago. I don't know how it is anywhere else, but here in tf idaho, churches resemble warehouses. Which is rather appropriate come to think about it. ☺

I feel that religion perhaps served a purpose for a good deal of our history; but it's no longer necessary. I'll certainly agree with your view in what it is; but religion did drive much of human progress throughout history.

Now that we're a bit smarter, and don't need to imagine things in order to make sense of the world, it can go away. (My deepest hope- that it will someday go away entirely)

First of all.. Define "Useful Contribution", look around you. From Mauseliums, to Cathedrals, the Piramids in Egypt... Religion is Everywhere in Civilization! Religion been a Patron of the Arts. Define me "useful contribution". I reckon you don't consider art useful for starters. Define "Civilization" also.

Well, I’m not so critical. The fact is that there are about 7 billion human beings crowded into this planet. That’s more than ever. And religion has been all over the place, often at war within itself. The Romans laid waste to Israel, the Islam evicted the Roman and their successors from the Levant. Human history, the good and the bad parts of it, is intertwined with religion everywhere until the end of te 18th century. That’s when we got our first amendment and the declaration of the rights of man.

1. Yes it is born of fear. But that fear was not unjustified and religion performed a useful purpose in both allowing people to live with those threats and their consequences, and keeping their various societies together before the rule of law was solidly established.
2. It has been a source of misery, and also the source of all the knowledge needed to make use of the Renaissance. Literacy preserved by the Catholic clergy, medicine, mathematics and basic sciences preserved by the Imams.
   Arguably civilisation as we know it could not exist without religion having played a part.

I think religion has made useful contributions, but has made much worse long lasting contributions not in favor of civilization. They’ve done more harm than good.

Yes it could be solidly argued that religion has made useful contributions to civilization if the word religion is used extremely broadly. My question once this position is made would be was religion necessary for these contributions?

I am an anti-theist stricly defined as one whom is aganist religion, not one whom is agianst those who are religious. I am agaist believing in Mythological Beings and living ones life as if they were real, particularly when those dieities wish harm on people, animals, or anything else.

This being said, religions do organize humanitarian efferts that are benifitial. Again I stress religion is not necessary for such humanitarian efferts. We shold howere, be honest and keep it real.

Completely agree with you.

the very same

I can’t think of anything…. They’ll occasionally/ supposedly do ‘charity work,’ but that’s often to bolster their own religious reach around the world or as a PR stunt.. When compared to the atrocious and ongoing damage it’s caused to humanity, any smidgen of usefulness would be wiped out a trillion fold… It remains the number one plague of humanity ~