Christianity is a greater threat to American freedom than Islam

"The thing about religion is that it provides a powerful language through which you can justify any ideology." —Reeza Aslan http://www.youtube.com... Apologies to my opponent--I intended to simply agree to the rules in round one and present my argument in round two. My opponent needn't have presented any argument as the burden of proof is on myself--so I apologize that you did more work than you needed to because I was unclear. Also, thank you for accepting my debate. RESPONSE "It seems to me that Islam shares Christianity's sexism, only it is slightly worse. That is shares Christianity's homophobia, only is slightly worse. That it shares Christianity's militant desire to spread globally, only is slightly worse. And that it shares Christianity's desire to undermine science in an effort to validate its beliefs, only is about as bad." The trouble with your comparison of the two religion's risks to American freedom is that it focuses not on effect but on rhetoric. We agree that the two religions do harm freedom in these four ways as you've outlined. And you have no disagreement from me that Islam is more objectionable in each of those four areas as well. It is more intolerant, its radicals more militant, etc. The problem, of course, is which has the greater effect on America's freedom? The answer is undeniably Christianity. "Furthermore, freedom of speech is a clear prerequisite for 'freedom'. While Jesus is happily satirised by South Park and Family Guy, etc etc, Muhammad has become a subject which fear of terrorism has turned into a no-go area. While many Christians object to blasphemy but have to deal with it, the level of immunity from critique that the prophet Muhammad now enjoys is absolute in the mainstream media." My opponent's only offers one example of Islam having any effect on American freedom: being unable to draw its prophet due to fears of retaliation. Let's forget for a moment whether these fears are even rational: the inability to draw one religious icon which is not a significant figure in America (aside from how much we talk about not being able to draw him) hardly constitutes a grave violation of liberty. It certainly is censorship, and thus wrong, but its overall effect on America is laughable. But, of course, the self-censorship is ridiculous. Even including the 9/11 attacks, which greatly skews the results, I calculate that the average amount of Americans killed each year by Islamic terrorists worldwide is only 461. Without 9/11, that number is only 39. Compared to the 36,000 killed each year by the seasonal flu alone, that number is laughable. Terrorism only has an effect because of Americans' inability to put things in perspective. [1] [2] [3] "It is all a matter of spectrum. I would argue that if you plotted a Christian spectrum and a Muslim spectrum of most liberal to most extreme, the average Muslim will be more extreme than the average Christian." No disagreements here. However, it is because Christianity is such a generally respected and prominent aspect of America that it is able to work its extremism and intolerance more easily. "Since Muslims have a higher birth rate than that of Christians, their numbers are going to grow at a faster rate. As a democracy, America will inevitably have to factor these numbers into its public policy. Islam is a problem for the of all secular democracies with a fast-growing Muslim population." Between 1990 and 2008 the total rise in the Islamic population amounted to...0.3%, which isn't so problematic. Compare to the 28.7% rise of primarily Catholic Hispanics. [6] [7] CHRISTIAN POWER You have admitted in your own words that Christianity DOES affect the freedom of the United States in four ways: homophobia, sexism, war, and the crusade against evolution. I think we will also agree that in the past Christianity has been used to justify racial segregation, miscegenation laws, slavery, Native American genocide campaigns, westward expansion, and more. In addition to the agreed-upon effects of Christianity in America in the present day, Christianity also: (1) Reduces who is able to win the presidency. I point to the history of American presidents, in which non-Christianity has remained a serious offense to voters. The refusal of Christian hardliners to vote non-Christian seriously limits the ability for a non-Christian to become president. It also has a general influence on political elections. [4] [11] (2) Controls half of the two-party system. [5] [12] (3) Exerts a powerful influence on policies. Churches and religious organizations such as the Mormon church are capable of raising millions to deny liberties in states their members aren't even in. Secretive Christian groups such as The Family influence key decision makers behind closed doors, for example. Decision makers who rely on their faith [9] [11] (4) Marginalizes and violates the rights of the large minority of non-Christian and especially non-religious Americans through national days of prayer, classroom declarations of "one nation under God", etc. [8] If we disagree on any of those points, let me know. CONCLUSION We have agreed that Christianity harms American freedom through homophobia, sexism, war, and creationism. I assert that Christianity also reduces variation in elections, controls half of the two-party system, exerts a powerful influence on policies, and violates the rights of non-Christians. Islam's effect on America is mediocre at best, stemming from its 0.3% rise in population and the few Americans killed every year by Islam. The language of Islam does not influence voters, Muhammad is not praised by the American government, our leaders do not rely on their Islamic faith. It's homophobia, sexism, and militancy all trouble other countries. Christianity, however, exerts a direct and powerful influence over American politics. 1.) http://www.cdc.gov... 2.) http://www.wolframalpha.com... {17,+60,+60,+57,+29,+12,+2992} 3.) http://www.infoplease.com... 4.) http://en.wikipedia.org... 5.) http://www.guardian.co.uk... 6.) http://en.wikipedia.org... 7.) http://en.wikipedia.org... 8.) http://friendlyatheist.com... 9.) http://www.nytimes.com... 10.) http://news.bbc.co.uk... 11.) http://en.wikipedia.org...(Christian_organization) 12.) https://docs.google.com...