If religion isn't a security blanket for irrational and immaturity then what is it exactly? I grew up in a very religious small town in Ontario Canada, I was indoctrinated into Roman Catholicism very young and was taught that to question my belief was the same as signing my ticket to hell. I became agnostic in grade 8 after realizing that not only did religious NOT provide answers, but the adults who were meant to guide me in my faith had none of the answer either.
If you look at a security blanket of a child it generally has the following attributes:
1. It keeps them safe.
2. It makes them feel protected.
3. It makes them feel like it will always be there.
4. It makes all forms of evil non existent.
5. It instills them with a level of protection and safety they have no other way of achieving.
6. It has personal truth and has personally reviled qualities to them, that no one else can see, even another child will see something different or know something different.
What does religion teach us (Roman Catholicism)?
1. If you hold the bible as truth it will protect you.
2. If you obey the laws of God you'll be safe.
3. If you deny the power of God then you'll be punished.
4. God will keep you free from sin and protect you forever.
5. God will be personally reviled to you if you believe.
So in reality I'm not far off, believing in Roman Catholicism really is no different then holding a secutiry blanket. I don't remember the actual numbers but less than 1% of the bible has actually been verified as fact and most serious theologians have doubts that Jesus ever existed, which if he didn't Catholicism is over with.
Now before you accuse me not being fair to the other big religions, Islam is a security blanket with the added feature of the child having radical outbursts of hissy fits, with the full kicking, screaming and hating the world.
Mormonism is the security blanket but you get to add a TON of special powers, let it prevent you from interaction with your world and it lets to disregard history in favor of facts everyone else knows it wrong.
Judaism is just security blanket and that's it, nothing else added to it.
The thing missing from all of these religions, just like the blanky? Evidence!, proof that holding this blanket will do what you claim, proof that it's personal truth can be realized by everyone, proof that it has a force for good in the world and proof that it's not just brain washing you into false sense of protection.
It's fun and cute when you're 2/3, it's sad, pathetic, immature, irrational, illogical and dangerous when you're an adult, not to mention that if you're an adult who feel women are garbage and that suicide it's the way to heaven.
If you want to hold religious belief then I think you have to be able to come to the table with hard evidence, the kind you can point to and the kind science can back up, other wise you have nothing. It's not enough for you to say that I have to hold your beliefs gently because they're your beliefs, because if I have a sock that I claim is God, you would have to get down and pray 10 times a day to it, to not offend me! Until the religiously minded can come to the table with proof, I have no reason to respect anything they say or anything they do in the name of religion.