In a nutshell:
Theism can only have a clear meaning at the strictly personal level.
The term theism can only have clear meaning to each individual and not be shared by two people? Interesting. Would you say this is true for other terms, such as science? If not (true), I'd be interested in how you think it differs.
Quite often it is a poisonous crutch, far less often it is an inclination of personal style that can be handled in a healthy way.
How is it (often) poisonous? How is theism, handled in a healthy way, in your understanding/observations?
In any case, it is an entirely unsuitable idea to serve as the basis of a whole interpersonal ideology or even of a personal philosophy.
From your perspective (and experience)? Or you are saying this is observably true for all people (you've observed, and/or can imagine)?
I do wonder again if this is true with other ideas, such as "love" or "life" or "science" or even "atheism?"
Theism simply lacks the necessary substance to sustain so much weight, and the anxiety that such a realization causes motivates many believers into moral corruption and various forms of functional insanity.
How many in your observation?
Interesting that you assert it can have clear meaning on a personal level, yet lead to such dastardly things. How would you account for this?
The best remedy against that danger is to warn people in advance not to bet too heavily in such a dubious concept.
Why wouldn't the best remedy be to advocate for it to be handled in a healthy way, as you noted above?
I'm not sure you've made clear what is the dubious concept?
Why do you think there is any meaningful difference between those two choices?
Because, as stated earlier, I understand you to be theistic (along with everyone else), but to maintain the untenable position of rejection, so was seeing if you'd engage in intellectual integrity, or justification for your intellectual rejection.
For your information, I will not be guilt-shamed into protecting the reputation of theism. I have long overgrown the mindset that would make me vulnerable to such efforts.
Noted. But not looking for you to protect something that thus far you show up as only slightly understanding.
The key realization may have been that of how harmful belief in a deity tends to be. I have no way of deluding myself into a stance of feeling a duty to protect such a belief.
Oh, I'm sure you can.