Organized Religion is Harmful and Corrupt

Hello and thank you for proposing this topic to debate!As the Con, I will be taking the side that organized religion is harmful and corrupt.Obs 1: Definition of Organized religion: a structured system of faith or worship, especially one followed by a large number of people, such as Christianity, Islam, or Judaism.Obs 2: The opponent's stance as judged by the opening arguments, is that religious organizations are "bad" because they are harmful as they isolate and cause war/hostility, as well as corrupt because they are tax exempt, while still receiving money from their constituents. Therefore, all I must do to win this round is disprove these points. Obs 3: Because of my opponent's wording, it is logically correct to assume that he/she believes ALL organized religion is harmful and corrupt. If he/she did not, they would have clarified, but because of their belief that "Organized Religion is Harmful and Corrupt" I will assume they mean all and disproving this statement means a victory for me.Organized Religion is Harmful"The more we learn about our natural world, the more we know that we are fundamentally connected."- Well...yeah? I mean, through genetics we are, so I agree. "Religion is divisive. It isolates and causes war and hostility towards other groups of people that do not follow one set of religious standards."- This is simply not true. If I may, I urge my opponent to present one mainstream religion that says violence is encouraged and warfare against all others is mandatory. This idea may stem from the misconception that religious sects of Christianity and Islam have, in the past, been the stem cause of violence. However, the acts of terrorist groups like ISIS and Al-Qaeda are not fundamentally supported in the Quran. As quoted from the Islamic Supreme Council "In a religious sense, as described by the Quran and teachings of the Prophet Muhammad (s), "jihad" has many meanings. It can refer to internal as well as external efforts to be a good Muslims or believer, as well as working to inform people about the faith of Islam. If military jihad is required to protect the faith against others, it can be performed using anything from legal, diplomatic and economic to political means. If there is no peaceful alternative, Islam also allows the use of force, but there are strict rules of engagement. Innocents - such as women, children, or invalids - must never be harmed, and any peaceful overtures from the enemy must be accepted." This rule of the jihad has been misinterpreted and badly implemented by less that 1% of a mainstream organized religion. Therefore, I argue that my opponent's claim that organized religion is bad is false. Christianity, in fact, asks its followers to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19), and I'm sure that this wouldn't be effective if organized religion was inherently or apparently corrupt and harmful. Remember, religion does not cause war and isolate, rather, it is the people who utilize religion in a bad way that make it seem so. A knife can be used for good (cutting food) as well as bad (killing), but this does not make the knife always bad as a majority of people use knives for good :).Organized Religion is Corrupt"Religious organizations are tax exempt." - Right again! They are tax exempt by the state and the government. This existed since the ancient times as explained by Focusonthefamily.com "By the time of the American Revolution, nine of the original thirteen colonies were giving some kind of tax relief to churches. The idea can be traced back to Roman times when Emperor Constantine granted the Christian church a complete exemption from all forms of taxation." Not sure how this ties into your point?"And tithing, a percentage paid, is central in Catholicism." - Correct! Tithing is one of the "you should probably do this"'s in the Christian religion, but be forewarned, is not required. "The Roman Catholic Church, for example, abuses those who violate these religious standards under their "law"." -Whoa. Okay my friend. I assume you are looking at Malachi 3:9 which states that man is under a curse if they do not pay tithe as this is technically "robbing" from God? While this is correct in a sense, but, as ADevotion, a Christian devotion website explains, "But we live today under a New Covenant which does not have the same requirements. Our covenant is a better covenant established on better promises (Hebrews 8:6)." Therefore, this curse does not apply to any person anymore! In regards to the attack on the tithing, most offerings and tithes go to the church to be spent on mission trips, evangelizing, and rebuilding the church of Christ. As shown by Focusonthefamily.com, "one study notes the average urban church in Philadelphia provides over $476,663 worth of services annually. And an illustration of Cnann's work in Christianity Today shows that one particular Philadelphia congregation's annual give-back is valued at over $6 million.)" People tithe because they want to tithe, the only requirement that is in the bible to go to heaven is to believe in Jesus Christ, repent of your sins, and make a conscious effort to do good in your life. Dr. John JuedesAs for your quote on Dr. John Juedes, you may want to look at the whole beginning half of the essay, which says, and I quote, "Here are some things organized religion has done in our community and other countries. Over the last eleven years, our congregation has organized 24 mission trips to Mexico to build 37 houses for poor families. We recruited over 500 volunteers and over $50,000 to do this. These trips would never have been built without the efforts of organized religion, including our congregation, a Lutheran relief agency and Lutheran churches in Mexico. These organizations were following formal doctrine which prescribes caring for the poor." If you want to bring up the one or two harms that Dr. John Juedes brings up later, which by the way, he argues that Christianity is not included in, then look at the benefits to simply outweigh. Cherry picking one or two lines from a whole document may not be representative of its overall meaning."Religion is a man-made construction. It is ever-changing, molding from one generation to the next." - You are absolutely correct in saying that religion is changing from one generation to the next, but are incorrect in saying that religion is a man-made construct. All those who believe in a religion will promise you that it comes from heaven and from God. Also, this doesn't tie into your point of organized religions. Final Remarks: Let me clarify, while I am a Christian and definitely have a bias in saying that organized religion is good (as I am part of one), I think the evidence clearly points you in the direction of my side. Organized religion has done so much good for millions of people and, as you said, helps overcome obstacles in belief. I urge you not to let one or two incidences of an ineffective organized religion drive you to say that all organized religion is bad. Without organized religion, you and I may not be here today! (This of course is historical [Ottoman Empire, Roman Empire])Thank you for this debate! I look forward to hearing your responses in thoughts.Best wishes.Sources:[1] http://www.adevotion.org...[2] http://www.focusonthefamily.com...[3] http://islamicsupremecouncil.org...