Motion: Religion makes the world a better place.

Thank you for your opening debate. Before I continue, I would like to say that I have no intention on pressing the views of a single religion towards you, nor do I have the intention of telling you that "you're not saved" or anything along those lines. However, I belong to the Baha'i Faith and the arguments I will provide will somewhat skim the surface of the writings of the Religion. I have the deepest respect for your view point on Religion as a whole, but I am debating this to broaden your view on the general view of Religion. Let us begin: 1) "there would be less violence on Earth if there was no form of Religion" I mentioned earlier that I am a Baha'i and as a Baha'i, I have to somewhat agree with you on your statement. But if I were you, I would change the wording of your statement to, "if mankind truly understood the meaning of individual investigation and consultation, then there would be less violence on Earth." You see, Man chooses what to interpret and what to alter in a Religion, therefore if Man chooses to act contrary to the Principles of the Religion, it is Man who is ultimately responsible for the disagreements generated after an unqualified interpretation becomes accessed by the public. Regardless of the century you choose, the declination of a Religion's uselessness has always begun when Man sullies the true form of the Religion in order to gain a personal benefit from it. This is why Religion is revealed in a progressive manner, so that society is updated on the meaning of what it truly means to be a part of a human family. What I'm trying to say is that Religion, like all things organic, has an expiry date, like an Apple. On the other hand, all forms of artificial creations are specifically designed not to wear out, much like an Oreo. So due to the organic nature of the Religion, the moment the Religion's adherents begin to "go bad", that's when the individual investigation comes into play to solve the mystery of a Religion going bad. So I'll close off this section by saying, man is the cause of war and dissension and not Religion or the Religious teachings, for humanity will truly progress if man chooses the power of love over the love of power. In relation to your statement, the founder of the Baha'i Faith, Baha'u'llah, provides us with a Principle that, "Religion should unite all hearts and cause wars and disputes to vanish from the face of the earth, give birth to spirituality, and bring life and light to each heart. If religion becomes a cause of dislike, hatred and division, it were better to be without it, and to withdraw from such a religion would be a truly religious act. For it is clear that the purpose of a remedy is to cure; but if the remedy should only aggravate the complaint it had better be left alone. Any religion which is not a cause of love and unity is no religion. All the holy prophets were as doctors to the soul; they gave prescriptions for the healing of mankind; thus any remedy that causes disease does not come from the great and supreme Physician. 2) "Because of Religion, wars are fought with no end" Wars are fought because of man's immaturity and ignorance of the writings of that Religion which explicitly commands them not to partake in unjustified killings. James Donohue says, "I see humans, but no humanity" 3) " borders are drawn and defended, countries are invaded, and people are put to death" It is physically impossible for Religion to draw a physical border, or defend the border, or invade countries, or put people to death. 4) "Radicalized Islamic Men and Women" Radicalization of people, regardless of the Religion, rests the the explanation I gave above, "unqualified interpretation becomes accessed by the public". Therefore Religion is not the cause of Radicalization, it is Man. Sure, you could argue that if Religion wasn't there, then we wouldn't have anything to be radicalized about. But I would argue that if we follow the instructions of the Religious Texts, then Radicalization is transformed to Devotion. 5) "Religious Conservatism" I would argue that an individual that practices Religious Conservatism is in fact a disciple of ignorance and a promoter of disunity. I fully agree with the points you have mentioned, and in fact you have saved me some typing haha. Therefore your points were my points, and I would like to add that when the attitude displayed in the name of Religion, goes against the well-being of the Human race, then it is better to defend the Religion from the aggressor than to judge it based on the stupidity of the uneducated. 6) "Religious doctrine and its affect on society" I will provide you an argument for your entire section under the title, "religious doctrine and its affect on society". I will have to say that your argument has been entirely defaulted to the Pseudo-Christian generalization of the scriptures related to your issue with doctrine. When you say "most Religious faiths", surely you don't mean that you've drawn this conclusion after a devoted individual investigation of all Divinely revealed Religious Faiths? 7) "too many Religions are created to shepherd its followers in the direction it wants them to go" With a slight alteration of your statement, I would agree with you. Change the word "too many" to "all", then change "created" to "revealed", then change "it" to God". With that done, then I 100% agree with you :) If you would like to know why, then again, individual investigation must take place. 8) "Excommunication" I don't know if you know, but questioning the reason why things are the way they are is a part of human nature, and Religious Texts encourage that. They encourage the investigation of teaching and writings but not authority. There is a difference between questioning authority and investigating as to why that authority exists. It is up to the individual to conclude after a full unbiased devotion to the Writing in question. In conclusion, Man is the cause of war, death, borders, sects, interpretation, and many more. Religion suppresses our lower nature as humans, so knocking Religion out of the equation, unleashes our lower nature. Therefore we need Religion in order to truly understand our spiritual purpose. I urge you to read the book "Baha'u'llah and the New Era" your turn