[Arawn]

1) Spirituality for dummies.

If you have the awareness level of a snail, and your thinking is mired in shame and guilt (with perhaps a twist of drug abuse or suicidal thinking)...

For reasonably intelligent people who aren’t suffering from major issues with low self-esteem, religion is ridiculously consciousness-lowering.

First and for most throwing insults and unfounded accusations at any group of people, religious or otherwise, makes your position and personal character very questionable. My personal stance is, "I am who I am. If you accept me, fine. If you do not accept me, fine."

When you subscribe to a religion...Religion is the off-switch of the human mind.

I will make my own choices no matter what they tell me. Also explain one of the previous leaders of our church Henry Eyring who was First Counselor in the First Presidency of The Church. He received his doctoral degree in Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley in 1927.
Henry Eyring - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
He also developed the Eyring equation
Eyring equation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Yes he is just one, but I can provide you with many more.

Leave the mythology behind...Your intellect is a better instrument of spiritual growth than any religious teachings.

Just to mention a couple things that my church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints teach and promote:
One of the statements that the Deacons have to say, at the beginning of every session is, "Obtain as much education as possible."
There is also the Church's Perpetual Education Fund. No you do not have to be a member to receive this.

2) Loss of spiritual depth perception.

One of the worst mistakes you can make in life is to attach your identity to any particular religion...

Yes I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I will tell you what is important to me in order: My wife, my baby boy, my wife’s parents, my best friend Chad, Chad’s wife, Chad’s daughter, my church. Why did I not mention my parents; because they are passed away.

Your <perspective> stereo vision is only from one church, the Catholic Church. I have been in six different churches. Then 15 years later I learned of this church and four years later I joined.

3) Engineered obedience training.

Religions are authoritarian hierarchies designed to dominate your free will.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints teaches "free-agency."

...They’re among the most powerful instruments of social conditioning. They operate by eroding your trust in your own intellect...

Again we are to obtain as much education as possible. There is the Church's Perpetual Education Fund, and free-agency.

4) Toilet-bowl time management.

...flushing much of your precious life down the drain with little or nothing to show for it.

You believe that I would have “little or nothing to show for it” if I obtain as much education as possible? My working on my Masters in Aerospace Engineering is this a waste time and the Perpetual Education Fund pays for some of it?

First, you’ll waste a lot of time filling your head with useless nonsense.

Try studying archeology. I can tell you exactly what year David defeated Goliath. I can tell you how many children Goliath had and what their names were. Verifiable archeological evidence goes far beyond David and Goliath.

5) Support your local pedophile.

In addition to being a serious waste of time, religious practice can also be a huge waste of money.

For starters when you donate to a major religion, you support its expansion, which means you’re facilitating the enslavement of your fellow humans.

The Bishop’s store house offers food to those in need. No, you do not need to be a member. We help all who are in need.

Why aren’t Catholic priests allowed to marry?

Good question. Our bishops are required to have a wife and children. I will let you look this up in the New Testament.

6) Incest is best.

Religions frequently promote inbred social networks. You’re encouraged to spend more time with people who share the same belief system while disengaging from those with incompatible beliefs.

That is quite the stretch.
We teach to love thy neighbor and thy enemy.

7) Idiocy or hypocrisy – pick one.

When you subscribe to an established religion, you have only two options. You can become an idiot, or you can become a hypocrite.

Again, you are the one who needs to study.

First, there’s the idiocy route...Accept that the earth is only 10,000 years old.

First study Ancient Hebrew. There are three translations. The fist is a 12 hour day; Sun rise to sun down. The second is a 24 hour day; Sun down to sun down. The third is a “period of time.” Examine the six days of creation and look at each “day” as a “period of time.” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints does not have a stance for or against evolution.

...with no more than 9,000 of them quoted from your favorite great book.

Ok, I will not quote my favorite book, but I will give you the name of it, so you can go to whatever book store you prefer and purchase a copy for yourself. My favorite book is Azure Bonds by Jeff Grubb and Kate Novak.

8) Inherited falsehood.

Please tell me you aren’t still practicing the religion you happened to be born into?

Many religions are just a mish-mash of what came before. For example, Christianity is largely based on pagan rituals.

That comment is only partially true. Jesus Christ was not born December 25th. Also there was no year zero. He was born April first five B.C. In Rome, the Winter Solstice was celebrated many years before the birth of Christ. The Romans called their winter holiday Saturnalia, honoring Saturn, the God of Agriculture. Jesus Christ was a real and living being, not some fictional character: FRONTLINE: from jesus to christ: jesus many faces: crucifixion | PBS

Is your religion based on the inspired word of God? No more than this article.

We do not teach that the Bible is the complete inerrant word of God. This can be verified by what has been discovered in the dead sea scrolls. Start by looking up the famous Isaiah scroll found in Comran Cave one.

9) Compassion in chains.

Religious rules and laws invariably hamper the development of conscience. This causes all sorts of problems like pointless violence and warfare. Those who preach nonviolence as a rule or law tend to be the most violent of all. Such people cannot be trusted because they’ll violate their proclaimed values with the weakest of excuses.

That is very a very narrow minded comment. Atheists have done this. Christianity has done this. Islam has done this. Judaism has done this. Secular/Nonreligious have done this. This list goes on!

10) Faith is fear.

Religion is the systematic marketing of fear.

Blessed are the poor (donate heavily). Blessed are the meek (obey). Blessed are the humble (don’t question authority).

The leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints have said, "Do not only listen to what we have to say. Pray. Ask Heavenly Father, so you may know for yourself."

Blessed are the hungry (make us rich until it hurts).

Again, the Bishop's store house.

Blessed are the merciful (if you catch us doing something wrong, let it go).

As above, they WILL be excommunicated!

Blessed are the pure of heart (because your brains are switched off). Blessed are the timid, the cowardly, the fearful. Blessed are those who give us their power and become our slaves. Muahahaha!

Again, "free-agency."

That’s the kind of nonsense religion pushes on people. They train you to turn your back on courage, strength, and conscious living. This is stupidity, not divinity.

You have absolutely no idea what kind of courage and strength I have. I will provide for and protect my family, no matter what!

Religion will teach you to fear being different, to fear standing up for yourself, and to fear being an independent thinker. It will erode your self-trust by explaining why you’re unable to successfully manage life on your own terms:

Throughout school I was an Outcast. No one would accept me as part of the Jocks, Nerds, Preppies, geeks, rich kids, poor kids, etc. I just accepted that. I am ME!

When you practice faith instead of conscious living, you live under a cloak of fear...

Fear of what?

Faith is the coward’s substitute for courage...If you’re afraid or unwilling to assume total responsibility for your life, you’re a perfect match for religion.

That is completely preposterous! Does it make me a “coward” that I want to go and explore outer space. It comforts my wife to know, beyond any shadow of doubt, that I have the “courage” to protect her and my baby boy, even with my life if is so be required! Can you honestly do the same?

...If you find yourself frustrated because you’re too afraid to follow your dreams...

It has been my dream to go to space since the fifth grade. And I am working on getting my Masters in Aerospace Engineering.

Dump the safety-in-numbers silliness.

I take comfort in doing what I what to do, learning what I want to learn, going where I want to go. Do you suffer from haphephobia?