Positive: The religion I grew up in promotes some beliefs/qualities that I truly believe are important and good and I'm glad to have had them as foundations. A few I value: * Pacifism * A strong sense of community/shared property * "Live simply so others may simply live" * Spread love through service vs preaching

Negative: I guess for me personally, as in direct effects on my everyday life, there haven't been huge negatives. I had a few rough years of semi-estrangement from my family when I turned away from their religion and I had to spend some serious time grappling with the loss of something that had been a major part of my life and my identity. Realizing that something isn't what you thought it was (and as a result, that you aren't who you thought you were) is hard. But my life, safety, relationships, etc. were never under threat the way they are for some people who eschew their religions.

For me, the negative effects are more widespread than just me. I see the place I grew up continually making faith-based decisions that are detrimental to the community. I see families and communities falling apart and alienating each other. And that's nothing compared to the religious wars, torture, etc. going on elsewhere.

The real negative is not religion, but the people abusing it, using it to further their own (often unrelated) goals. They use religion to scare and bully people into doing horrible and stupid things; into aligning themselves with hate and inequality; into nitpicking at irrelevant "sins" at the expense of solving the big problems; into hurting others and doing things that their religion fundamentally condemns. But "god says" is a powerful statement. People don't want to be on the wrong side of that. And if you live in a small or remote or very homogeneous community, bucking the trend can bring the wrath of your community and loved ones and the loss of everything you've ever known in addition to the wrath of god. And in some places, death.

Sorry this got so long, but I just want to add that I know there are plenty of good people who aren't using their religion as a mace and I don't begrudge anyone their beliefs--whatever gets you through the day and gives you peace. But the few who wield religion as a weapon instead of an instrument of love and peace are doing a great disservice to not only other believers, but to the rest of us as well.

And sorry, OP, if this got too far off the topic of personal positive and negative effects.