At the beginning of this young community, I thought it might be helpful to make a clear distinction between the definitions as they differ greatly in their explainability. Contrary to some opinions that can be heared, the statements a) there are one/more divine beings and b) no divine beings exist are logically equivalent.
That link is very interesting, and it seems to align quite well with some of my own ideas.
The foundation of an idea, is significant IMO. Especially when talking about religion.
A foundation of rigorous testing and evidence, is a good strong foundation. The foundation of someone unknown claiming something without evidence, is an extremely poor foundation.
Religion always tend towards the latter rather than the former.
You are absolutely right. But religion and faith are not the same. Faith is a personal view of the world. Religion, on the other hand, is more of a social construct, an association of people who share similar views. That is why they are also susceptible to problems that every social community has (corruption, power hierarchies, abuse of this power, …).
I agree on religion.
But similarly faith or belief, can be founded on baseless speculation or rigorous examination.
I hope you agree, that beliefs based on evidence and logic have higher value than beliefs that have none.
Of course, evidence-based beliefs are always preferable. But that depends on how detailed the foundations of your beliefs are. Religions tend to explain abstract things very simply and in a way that is easy for everyone to understand. They just give a different interpretation of the phenomena surrounding them, as we have done here. It really depends on how much information and how detailed your scientific basis is, because the simpler explanations often deviate greatly from reality.
In conclusion, however, I would say that what is really important is that every faith, be it atheistic, agnostic or theistic, leads to a good life for oneself and one’s fellow human beings.