Christianity is a force for good in the world.

It has been a pleasure to debate with you, InquireTruth. And I look forward to your last round. ::Important Sidenote :: Accusing atheists, Buddhists, Muslims or any other group of being composed of homicidal, greedy, fat, rabble-rousers does not vindicate Christianity as being a force for good. As such, many of my opponent's claims about atheists, which are both false and fallacious, play no role in this debate. These claims are no more than ill-conceived distractions. ::WHENCE COMETH THIS METRIC?:: "[U]nder the Christian framework, morality is objective and thus can be objectively judged." Brothers and sisters of DDO, the God of the Bible hates sodomy and will kill you for it, but he rather enjoys the occasional human sacrifice. On just a cursory glance it doesn't seem that God has his priorities quite straight, and neither does my opponent. Christianity can't provide an objective morality anymore than Muslim, Hindu, Taoist, or other religious teachings can. Religious ethics are all founded upon the unfounded notion that a supernatural realm exists and that this realm, either through a God or impersonal forces, can arbitrate morality. Until these epistemic claims can be vindicated my opponent has nothing to go by, in moral terms, other than the schizophrenic ravings of Iron Age prophets. At the very least, the ethical intuitions I hold and wish to advance are rooted in an open ended, rational, non-dogmatic, and scientifically based dialogue that takes place in the 21st century. ::WHAT IS IT A FORCE FOR?:: 1. Luke 19:27 "These are CLEARLY NOT Jesus' words…" My bad, it was from a parable. However, the parable is apparently related to what God/Jesus/The Holy spirit will do with unbelievers. In either case, it's still barbaric. 2. The Bible itself condones slavery in both the Old and New Testaments. [1] I'm leaving my argument at that. 3. Jesus said to two rich men that they should abandon their family and follow him; there is only one reasonable and plausible way to interpret this. Moreover, cult leaders, like Jesus, always set up special privileges for themselves and their family. ::CHRISTIANITY AND CHARITY WORK:: Once again, my opponent's assertion that Christians dominate charity work is based on a fallacy. When one group (Christians) outnumbers another (Rationalists) by 8 to 1 it wouldn't be surprising to see great discrepancies in the work they get accomplished. Secondly, most people in human history that have ever plucked chickens or done charity work have done so while believing in god. This doesn't mean that people need to believe in God to do charity work or to pluck chickens. People will work in charities whether or not they cling to religious myths. The citizens of unreligious countries like Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands demonstrate this perfectly. Moreover, Christian charities have the rather bad habit of spreading divisive myths in the areas they work in, which harms society as a result. For example, Christians believe, and preach to others, that Jesus is the Son of God. Muslims believe that whoever believes these things will spend an eternity in hell. That leaves about as much room for compromise as a coin toss. And when societies get stressed they often break down along religious lines. We've seen this happen in the Balkans, Northern Ireland, Sudan, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Indonesia and the Caucasus etc. Therefore, Christianity causes quite a bit of harm when it spreads itself through charity work and other missions. Contention 1: Religion misrepresents reality. The negative effects of Christian myths can be seen everywhere. For example, among the developed nations the U.S. ranks 33rd in its acceptance of evolution, just above Turkey. [1] These data are unequivocal: we are building a nation of ignorance. Of course, these results very much have something to do with what parents tell their kids about God, Religion, and science. Likewise, the fact remains that stem cell research is one of the most promising lines in Biology. Being opposed to it is tantamount to being in favor of diabetes, stroke, blindness, paralysis, spinal cord injuries, and full body burns. And we've already lost over a decade of valuable research time because of irrational Christian dogmas. This alone demonstrates the potential hazards of even seemingly benign superstitions. Contention 2: The dogmas of Christianity are harmful to society. My opponent decries fanaticism, but he fails to realize that there are no biblical constraints that can reasonably prevent a person from being a fanatic. The Bible itself is an engine for fanaticism and intolerance. In fact, the God of the Bible is the greatest fanatic in all of Christianity. The God of the Bible is a self contradictory, genocidal, priggish, and brutish megalomaniac. Secondly, the fact remains that the most advanced countries, by virtually every criteria, have largely left behind their prior religious influence. [2] Contention 3: Christianity promotes intolerance and supports oppression. "Christianity… [has been] systematically enabling women." My opponent has got to be joking. The fact of the matter is that hardly any other religion or institution has been more oppressive or had to make more concessions of a bad conscience when it comes to women's rights. For starters, InquireTruth's entire religion is patriarchical. God is portrayed as a father. Women, in the Bible, were said to have been created from men to serve men. They are taught to be silent in church and submissive to the authority of men. Women are forbidden to teach men etc. These are all Biblical teachings. To put it mildly, Christianity is a filthy women-hating religion, and no amount of casuistry or tap dancing is going to change that. In addition, you would have to be delusional not to notice that Christianity leads to homophobia, in both mild and harsh forms. For example, the Catholic Church, with over a billion followers, officially views homosexuality as a mortal sin, and the current Pope has called it a "moral evil". [3] This belief logically leads to intolerance and playground bullying. Moreover, The Catholic Church, and Protestants alike, have also used verses from the Bible to stir up anti-Semitism. [4] Ironically, this is also the same racket that has institutionalized and covered up the rape of children in the very orphanages and charities, which you have written to brag about. Moreover, you would have to be completely secluded from reality not to notice that the tens of millions of people who have fought to block stem cell research are doing so as a result of their Christian beliefs about the soul. My point is, of course, that Christians do their wicked deeds out of deference to the scriptures. ::Conclusion:: Lets take a quick look one last time at Christianity as it exists today. Christianity, in general, plays a huge role in blocking life saving medical research and in resisting social progress that would improve the well being of millions of people. Moreover, the Bible itself is bursting at the seams with celebrations of cruelty and edicts to kill people and to be intolerant. On top of this, Christianity balkanizes people into incompatible moral communities that necessarily pit humans against each other. These occurrences are both sad and unnecessary. All humans need in this world is love, compassion, reason, curiosity, and each other. Superstitions, like Christianity, that sanctify ignorance, credulity, intolerance, hatred, and tribalism play no role in the betterment of humanity and they are most certainly not a force for good in the world. ---References--- http://www.debate.org...