This very good article by Valerie Tarico on AlterNet lists some bad religious concepts which belong in the dustbin of history - and they are worth listing:
- Chosen People
- Heretics
- Holy Wars
- Blasphemy
- Glorified suffering
- Genital mutilation
- Blood sacrifice
- Hell
- Karma
- Eternal Life
- Male Ownership of Female Fertility
- Bibliolatry (aka Book Worship)
These ideas have long underpinned the major world religious teachings and I want to add another very bad religious idea to the list - the concept of martyrdom, which lies directly behind many of the dreadful wars and terrorism acts that we see inflicted on an almost daily basis.
Many of these terrorism acts are carried out by dogma-charged males who believe they are chosen people, fighting holy wars against heretics who blaspheme their prophet and will achieve eternal life through belligerant acts of martyrdom.
Take religious teaching out of the equation and these people would be working to improve civilisation, instead of doing everything they can to destroy it.