You might have misunderstood me... I'm saying religion as an institution is harmful. I think we agree on that.
I'm not trying to say that religion is equivalent to science. I'm saying the believer of God and the believer of science are both drawing from the same place in their respective phyches. Its where we build our idea of what the world is, and our place in it.
What Wanda sees as a tornado sent by God, Debbie sees as the result of observable weather patterns. You can worry about who's right, or you can realize that they are both right from their own respective world views.
How is it divisive to say "people who's belief system specifically invalidates the beliefs of others kinda suck?" That idea is divisive by design, which is where we have the problem in religion.
The "same shit" I was referring to was the core need for belief. The comment was a plea for understanding, not a literal statement of fact...
Religion as a concept isn't harmful. It's a completely natural pairing of our need for spirituality and need for community. But it's as suceptiple to manipulation just as any other system in society. It takes a human willing to exploit it to make it harmful.