Belief in an afterlife, on its own, is benign. For example, belief in reincarnation provides an incentive to live a more considerate life and seems to pose no existential risks. The threat arises if you believe that the afterlife is more important than the present life. At its extremes, this leads to the belief that destroying the Earth, or just several major cities and billions of people, will help you and your fellow believers achieve the desired afterlife. In the past, this might have led to the destruction and burning of a city or two. Today, it could lead to an escalating nuclear war that
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