Why Organized Religion can be a Good Thing.

Here is what a church can do:

1) Build trust among its diverse members;
2) Advocate for the less fortunate;
3) Care for those who do not get care;
4) Harnesses the highest cultural ideas, if imperfectly;
5) gather out of mutual affection rather than necessity or profit;
6) foster ideas, talents and relationships of intrinsic, rather than extrinsic, worth;
7) provide down (or “sabbath”) time;
8) deepen and encourage reverence and respect;
9) teach that there is power in numbers;
10) reveres the limits of our individual power;
11) contain the madness of individuals in the culture;
12) engage in conflict in a safe and manageable way.
13) ease the burdens of people who aren’t its members;
14) build reliable and strong hearts;
15) reinforce an appreciation for the world.