I agree wholeheartedly with ankurdhama. All religions have some good things to take away: great parables on how to live a kind and just life, a sense of communi

I agree wholeheartedly with ankurdhama. All religions have some good things to take away: great parables on how to live a kind and just life, a sense of community and sharing, etc. However, often times these wonderful things that we should be taking away from the multitude of religions are marred by some people's ignorant, narrow views: the necessity of justifying that their views are right (hence, the only view), intolerance, a crutch to explain something that might be outside of our scope of knowledge at the moment, etc. to name a few. I feel as though modern religion has become a paradox of useful teachings that are twisted into justifiable hypocrisy. That is not to malign those who practice a religion while also treating their fellow man with respect and acceptance, but pointing out those who use religion as a dark alley in which they can hide their inadequacies, hate, etc.