Religion as social control: a compliment, not a refutation

Mike reframes the objection as a compliment: if religion helps control society beneficially and relieves fear of death, those are positives. He argues that on an atheistic worldview there is no foundation for objective morality — not that atheists are immoral, but that atheism cannot ground moral claims beyond subjective preference. He contrasts Christianity's historical credibility (messianic expectation, eyewitness resurrection accounts, prophecy) with religions that appear invented (Islam, Hinduism as a composite, Mormonism/Joseph Smith). The argument from social utility proves nothing about truth value either way; it only confirms benefits.