Religion does more harm than good.

For clarification, I am Con the resolution despite my opponent mistakenly requesting his opponent take the affirmative side. I will therefore be negating the resolution 'Religion does more harm than good'. Since I am Con, my opponent will have the burden of proof, although I will nevertheless put arguments forth against the resolution. I will focus on Christianity. -> Religion could lead to salvation <- I will not do what most people would do in this kind of debate and focus merely on the worldly benefits of religions, but put forth the possibility that religions could lead people to an eternity in heaven. The vast majority of people in the world believe in a higher power of some kind and the majority of those believe in an afterlife (or reincarnation). These often *infinite* rewards, if true, would automatically outweigh any harms Pro puts forth. So, what reasons do we have to believe they are true? Well, a study here shows that 75% of youths believe in a higher power, and further that many of those beliefs were due to them having a transcendent experience. [1] To deny the veracity of these experiences is to claim to know the mental state of literally billions of people, which is absurd. These experiences clearly point towards a higher power. In addition, there are many reason to think that events which attest to the truth of Christianity are true. For instance, the three facts about the resurrection of Jesus that are accepted by the majority of NT scholars: 1. The tomb was found empty by the women followers of Jesus three days after his crucifixion. 2.The disciples of Jesus held that they saw the risen Jesus after his crucifixion. 3. The original disciples help strongly to the belief that Jesus really did rise for the dead - so much so that they were willing to die for their faith. [2] To interpret these facts as attesting to Jesus' resurrection explains them all with ease, and so they count in favour of the truth of Christianity. If Christianity is indeed true, then its followers are headed for an eternity of bliss and happiness, which would outweigh any evidence put forth for the harm of Christianity. -> Christianity teaches good things <- Jesus taught many principles which would be considered extremely benevolent by the majority of people today. Jesus taught that people should love both their neighbours and enemies. He taught people they should give to the poor and feed the hungry. He espoused what in popularly known as the 'golden rule' (do to others what you would like to be done to you). The Ten Commandments provide a specific, clear and moral basis for people to live their lives, ordering people, for instance, not to murder others, not to steal or commit adultery and to respect your mother and father.[3] Pro may disagree with some of the ten commandments, but at the very least he cannot deny that it teaches many good precepts. It is clear then, that Christianity provides a good standard by which to lead ones life. -> Christians and charity <- It is clear from the evidence that Christians consistently give more and participate more in charitable work that non-believers. Charities help people around the world, such as the Catholic CAFOD [4] and Christian Aid [5] which do enormous amounts of good around the world, are often Christian. In the book 'who really cares' by Arthur Brooks, it is found that conservative religious people donate more, give more blood and more time to charitable causes than secular liberals and non-believers. [6] -> Conclusion <- To affirm the resolution, Pro must prove that Christianity is false, thus refuting the argument that Christianity could lead to salvation; he must show that Christianity does not provide a moral basis for one's life, and he must also address all the Christian charities in the world. He must also erect his own case which demonstrates that religion does a great deal of harm in the world. Until he does, we can safely conclude that the claim that Christianity does more harm than good is false. [1] http://www.csmonitor.com... [2] http://doesgodexistdebate.blogspot.com... [3] http://www.allabouttruth.org... [4] http://www.cafod.org.uk... [5] http://www.christianaid.org.uk... [6] http://www.amazon.com...