Is organized religion bad?

A little over a month ago when I was out in NYC, I ran across the following letter to the editor, "Organized religion can't answer question of evil", which had been published in the USA Today newspaper. Stephen Kiss of Montpelier, MD wrote:

Organized religion can't answer question of evil In "Reconciling evil with faith," commentary writer Michael Novak does not answer the question of why God permits suffering (On Religion, The Forum, July 21).

Instead, he offers the palliative that God loves us despite the pain and that God gives us the light and strength to translate the evil into good. This does not answer the question.

Novak's argument that the poverty a young volunteer in Haiti experienced was man-made and not God-made ignored the fact that God created the men who did these deeds, gave them the capability for evil and allowed them to act as they did.

Organized religions try hard to avoid admitting that God created what we call evil — deliberately — and that they have no idea why.

This question cannot be answered because it is ultimately unanswerable in this life.

So, too, are the other great questions: Is there a God? What kind of God is he? Why did he create us? What does he want from us? Where are we going? What happens after death? All unanswerable.

An organized religion's insistence — under the threat of eternal damnation for non-believers — that it, alone, has the answers, might be the greatest of all evils created by God.

I wrote a response to the letter and submitted it to USA Today, but apparently, it didn't get past the editor. :) Aaahh well, you can read my response here. Feel free to weigh in on this difficult subject. 

Novak's argument that the poverty a young volunteer in Haiti experienced was man-made and not God-made ignored the fact that God created the men who did these deeds, gave them the capability for evil and allowed them to act as they did.

Organized religions try hard to avoid admitting that God created what we call evil — deliberately — and that they have no idea why.

This question cannot be answered because it is ultimately unanswerable in this life.

So, too, are the other great questions: Is there a God? What kind of God is he? Why did he create us? What does he want from us? Where are we going? What happens after death? All unanswerable.

An organized religion's insistence — under the threat of eternal damnation for non-believers — that it, alone, has the answers, might be the greatest of all evils created by God.