Religion was a mistake.

I agree with you that religion has caused many disputes and many problems throughout history and still do even to this day, much like racism. But I suppose my question is: which would be worse? The world we have now with religion and faith, or a world without religion or faith? A world where we all accept that we have to defend ourselves, and that sometimes we're the only one fighting for ourselves, and there's nothing to persevere for. That is my main question, which of those two worlds would cause the most issues and suffering, and chaos? Was religion, the very beginning when someone thought "hey, there could be a god up there" was this a mistake all together? Should this have happened? Religion does have so many misunderstandings. A lot of Christians are looked at as some sort of demanding array, and Islamics are looked at as a hateful religion by many when in reality, the world Islamic derives from the same semitic root as the Hebrew word Shalom, which means peace, so that leads me to believe that the original intent of Mohammed was not to start a holocaust of any sort, which has happened not only in the Islamic religion, but others as well. I firmly believe that people corrupted religion, not the religion itself. Like Mohandas Gandhi said, "I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." But there will be misunderstandings with everything, it is impossible for different religions and perfect understanding to co-exist. You must, however, take into account the many outstanding things religion has not only done for individuals, but things that religion tends to keep from happening. Perseverance is the state or quality of being insistent. Perseverance is to keep moving forward, to keep going, regardless of circumstances. There is so much pain and sorrow in the world, so many unfair things happen, so many deaths, so many situations where strength is put to the test, so many people with low self esteem, what's the point of moving forward if there's nothing but a coffin to look forward to? I believe if religion was non-existent, suicide rates would go up. Go up, or in fact not just go up but be a common situation. If I am to persevere with meaning, let me persevere. But if I am to persevere for things to go from low to worse, and if there is a race to finish, but the same prize is given to everyone in the end, why am I to persevere? I can say from personal experience that without my strong faith, I likely would not be here today, but would have given in to dark thoughts a long time ago. Just throwin' that out there. Another point as well is morality. People have individual moralities, depending on religion and person feelings, but there is still a basic guideline of morality that is accepted by society. Such as do not murder, do not steal, do not harm yourself physically or others, etc. Most of these all derived from basic guidelines given to Moses at Mt. Sinai, and were taught as absolute law back in the day (or you could be put to death, which still exist in some circumstances today). The Golden Rule, "do unto others as you would have them do unto you" It is (but able to be debated) the most essential basis for the modern concept of human rights. Matthew 7:12 is where the "Golden Rule" came from, but not only that but many verses say the same thing, but in different words. Such as Leviticus 19:34, "But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God" Now, another question is, would morality (such as the Golden Rule and others as well) have existed if this religion had never existed? One could say common human conscience could have figured this out on their own. But children do not grow up treating each other as they want to be treated (I baby sit sometimes, and if one of them hits the other, they always get hit right back) and children are rather selfish too. They learn otherwise because of what they are taught, and how they are taught to handle people. But in the beginning of the world, whenever that was, if they were to have no teacher to teach them these things, are you saying we would have been able to teach that to ourselves? With religion comes morality. Morality is simply the attitude we adopt toward people whom we personally dislike, if there was no basis for morality, who's to say it would exist? Not only that, but REASON for morality. Because in the Hindu religion it is good deeds that get you the prize, in Christianity it says "Love your neighbor and care for others" and if you do not do just that, then you will be sentenced to death, rather than eternal life. Or in the Hindu religion, you would reincarnate to a lowly state. If there is nothing stopping us from becoming utterly immoral, why be moral? I have a couple more points, but I will let my opponent speak before I give them ;]