Do you think religion causes more harm than good? Why or why not?

Atheism causes more harm than good.

Atheists have historically been a minority. And yet, when they’ve reached power, their abuses dwarf any of the famous religious abuses throughout history.
atheists hold the belief that nothing is above them. One can aspire to power without ever being accountable for how that power is accomplished
Contrast this with religious people who genuinely believe that God judges a person’s works, in this life or the next.
atheists ultimately deny the reality of evil. While claiming to champion ethics and morality, they undermine the foundations of right and wrong. They are a law to themselves and promote their own honor.
There is no true evil, everything is relative. There is no absolute good, and no absolute evil, so if a powerful atheist decides the best path forward is to liquidate the undesirables, who’s to say it’s wrong?
It’s not to say all atheists are evil people. There are plenty of morally and ethically good atheists, and plenty of evil religious people. The truth is, evil men will use whatever means to accomplish evil, and that includes using religion
atheists are quick to abuse power and crush human rights with a swifter means and on a grander scale than any religious feud in human history, because atheism, in a veiled way, promotes lawlessness through the belief that humans ultimately have no one to answer to for their actions, good or bad.

You have a team of builders. The first one hits the nail crooked every time. The 2nd is really bad at mixing paint. The third is only interested in doing things his way. The 4th is legally blind. And then there is you. You want to be part of a team that builds amazing homes, and yet you realize that this team is not getting it done. The team is similar to individuals who for different reason practice religion. but none of them are doing it right. Is that the fault of bible or God? Or the workers? When you get to know God and his laws, you start to see that not all paths lead to Him. You realize that not everyone knows what they are doing. Should that stop you from continuing to seek God out and do his will? No, You may however need to find the right team. The bible is like a manual that guides us through life. When anything is done wrong it can be harmful. Like a house built incorrectly.

The stupid in this world believe that religion has done much harm. The truth, however, is that religion has never hurt anyone - not ever. Crazy people in costumes and crowns who sat on thrones and who believed that they were "religious" have killed countless people, yes, but that isn't religion. It's mental illness. Will the narrow-minded critics of religion ever bother to find out what religion actually is? No. Because they're having too much fun doing what they do. Your question proves that you yourself do not know what religion is. If you did, you wouldn't have posted. And that is essentially the problem with both the anti-religionists and the pure speculators. The philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche spoke out against Christianity's dark flaws and he did make some good points, but he was quite wrong when he said that religion tries to control people. No, that is not true. Only someone who didn't know what religion is would make such a statement. It is true that the much corrupted Christian traditions have given religion a bad name, and unfortunately, many have turned against religion because of that. Yet none of these people who walked away from religion even know what religion is. And that is not rational. Find out what religion really is. Forget the crazed fanatics. They don't represent religion. Go and find out what religion is ...

No it doesn't. Majority follow peacefully and if you genuinely believe in God and feel a connection then it is essential to your everyday life.

People can be bad though and religion has always been an easy motive to do bad things. You can always say that God is commanding me to do something bad by interpreting religious text in a negative way. it then becomes a get out clause... if you don't like what I'm doing, blame God not me.

There are also stupid people / those with low self esteem who use their religion as a way of feeling superior to others. Religious supremacy, narcissism, and exclusivity usually fuel the thoughts and motives of these people. If you generally think that your religion is the only way and everyone else is wrong.. Yes. .. you fit into this category.

Thankfully a majority of the population use religion responsibly and are not religiously prejudice.

More good. Yes it brings bad. I alongside Anti Theists and Militant Atheists fight against the evil it brings. But I think religion should stay, I just think we should prevent it from doing bad.
To me the bad it brings:
Holds Humans back in advancement
Takes lives
Causes violence
Causes bullying
Is Racist
Is Homophobic
Is Sexist
Is Anti Feminist

If that stuff stopped then there would be no bad bought by religion. I fight against that stuff which religion brings. And I want religion to stop bringing that stuff listed above. But the good it brings...

There goes a parable.
There is an elephant. And there are thousands of blind men around the elephant. Each blind men has a different name. Here are some of the names: Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Sihkism, Shinto, Jainism, Hellinism. Many more.
All the blind men touch the elephant. Christianity touches the tusk.
"It is sharp!"
Islam touches the ear.
"It is floppy!"
Judaism touches the trunk.
"Its like a snake!"
They all touch a different part of the elephant. Whatever part each blind man holds he says that THAT is the elephant. And because they all hold a different part they get into an argument:
"Its like a snake!" "no its sharp!" "no its floppy!" and so on.

The blind men are all the different religions. The elephant is the truth. All the religions are correct, only when you put them all together can you see the big picture however. In the same way as the elephant all the different parts are in the elephant but only when you put them altogether do you have the elephant as a whole.

Therefore I conclude that because religions are true they give us knowledge, true information. Science does equally as much damage as religion does, think of the atomic bomb during the second world war. That was science. Science has been used to do evil as well as religion. Look at the sword. That when you think about it was created by science. As were guns and all sorts of weapons.
But why is science still a force for good despite all this damage its done? Because it is *true*. And therefore everything else doesnt matter. Its TRUE. So we CANT get rid of it then we would be getting rid of the truth. We would be getting rid of KNOWLEDGE. And that is something we cannot do. Knowledge is important, without it we wouldnt have information.

In the same way to me religion brings truth and knowledge. Therefore like how science is still a force for good to Atheists despite all the damage its done, because it is true and gives us knowledge, religion is still a force for good for me because it brings truth and knowledge even though at the same time a lot of damage has been done to the world because of it.

I hope one day everyone will come to the realization I have. I believe then all religions will come together and the conflicts that occur between people of different religions will fade... the conflict and war that prevents peace...

Religion causes more harm then good. It is intrinsically divisive. It rewards incredulity. Holds back social and scientific development. It places faith as a virtue over all other things. Usually, religious adherents will attempt to force their beliefs on others.

If one wants a generally good human being to commit despicable acts of cruelty, one requires religion.

I think it depends upon the religion. I don't think it's fair to lump all religions together. For instance I'd say Islam causes more harm than good. Yet religions like Buddhism or Jainism seem to produce a lot of good and very little harm.

Religion causes more harm then good. It is intrinsically divisive. It rewards incredulity. Holds back social and scientific development. It places faith as a virtue over all other things. Usually, religious adherents will attempt to force their beliefs on others.

If one wants a generally good human being to commit despicable acts of cruelty, one requires religion..

Talking about unnecessary worry brought on by religious beliefs. Science always finds itself doing what religious people call "playing God" where the religious want to put a stop to scientific advancements because they believe it is infringing upon God's territory. Religious beliefs confuse issues so instead of giving common sense objections towards issues such as abortions, gay marriage, etc, they point to a book written by goat herders as their nonsensical objections. Some less critical harms are the vast amount of time wasted where many religious people give the impression that it is a chore to be done as women drag their husbands and children off to church to get the chore over and done with. Sure there are Christians who don't find it to be a chore but most that I encounter do. While many Christians put on a joyous appearance, many of them give signs of fear, especially when speaking to a non-believer in an attempt to save them. I always wondered how a Christian would react if they could see who they know being sent to Hell for an undeserving reason. Like a Christian father watching their atheistic child being sent to Hell for simple non-belief. How could you enjoy heaven and how could you respect God? All of this seems to be ignored and brushed under the carpet by Christians. So while there is certainly good found in religions, it is usually because good people ignore the bad parts of the religion. Usually, religious adherents will attempt to force their beliefs on others.

I think it does both harm and good. I look at my father sometimes, and I can see he found peace of mind in it. On the other hand, I have known people who made radical life choices based on religious beliefs, and those choices were not the best choices for them, it was simply what they thought god would have wanted. Also, sometimes religious people can't help but nag and nag people close to them, about going to church and so on. with the best of intentions for sure, but it's a wrong thing to do and it can break people apart. I myself am an agnostic/atheist, and my relationship with my father was very damaged by the fact that I could never have a normal conversation with him, he would always bring his religious beliefs into everything. Now he stopped doing it and everything between us is much better.

The inquisition and the crusades were not good things, for sure, but I think your question was about the present time. Right now I am very bothered about what some islamic people do in the name of their religion. That's pretty sad, too many people died for nothing.