Religion has had a negative impact on the world

head start. Again; "Let's look at what religion has done in the past few hundred years" So your saying a code of ethics and bible that should not be taken literally is killing people? religion doesn't kill people, people kill people, and killing in the "name of god" is just pure blasphemy. "This is not the main point of the debate" oh but all you did was quote the bible as your argument, if its not the point, why are you referencing it? if religion does for some reason have a negative impact on the world, the reasons we should look at this is how the bible should be interpreted, Which means any killing that has been done IN THE NAME of religion is complete and utter stupidity, most Religions see this as blasphemy you cannot say that religion is having an impact on the world when rather it is some of the people following that religion is using it as an excuse to kill. "If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them shall be put to death for their abominable deed; they have forfeited their lives. " Ahh, taking primitive human nature and using it against us, you might want to look at the sources of the bible, I am completely for gay rights and gay marriage, however you must remember the bible was inspired by god, written by men. and you are interpreting it in the bible again LITERALLY! think I am standing alone here? am I just a small portion of religions great big brutish ways? let's take a look, shall we? "Whoever, then, thinks that he understands the Holy Scriptures, or any part of them, but puts such an interpretation upon them as does not tend to build up this twofold love of God and our neighbor, does not yet understand them as he ought. " R13; Augustine of Hippo, On Christian Doctrine "So that originally, and Naturally, there is no such thing as Slavery. Joseph was rightfully no more a Slave to his brethren, then they were to him: and they no more Authority to Sell him, than they had to Slay him. [Genesis 37]. " R13; Samuel Sewall, The Selling Of Joseph "the Bible is only as good and decent as the person reading it. " R13; Dan Savage, American Savage: Insights, Slights, and Fights on Faith, Sex, Love, and Politics Back to the main point you might rebut and say; "Ok then, what is the meaning behind the conemnation of homesexual people? " I would say to that one again; "Inspired by god, written by men" Humanity 2000 years ago were primitive and brutish yes, that reflects through the bible yes. do we follow everything in the bible? no. Bible is ok with slavery, we today know better, the only thing that i can agree with you here is that the bible is a little (understatement) outdated. our people back then were being introduced with a moral system with the bible, the only moral;s back then to follow were the bible's but the bible is written by men and men are going to make mistakes. so i do not believe everything in the bible. back to my first point. We were but an un-evolved race 2000 years ago, you can't expect the people that wrote the bible to be above everyone else, and I'm not saying everything in the bible that is good is gods words, I'm saying this is the most reliable justice system they had in the day, but everything i just said was beside the point, the main argument is if RELIGION, not the bible, has a negative impact on the world, so from now forth lets discard the bible, it was a mistaken outdated holy scripture that only has morals to follow. Religion is a belief in a higher being, everyone has it, even if you think you don't so you are contradicting yourself, how do i know? what is your higher being, my guess is science, science relies on proof and theories, and believe the universe was created by nothing, the big bang is the first creation. creation could be random, but the very word create means something, even if that something is nothing, created, god is known as creating everything, create involves power. power + creation = a higher being, find scientific proof to prove me wrong. Oh and thank you for bringing Islam up, I would like to just reinstate my last few paragraphs saying that we were un-evolved back then. Islam is just a stricter version of the bible, a stricter version of the justice system, you can't bring something that men wrote and claim this is god's exact words. the religion has evolved way past the bible, we need to see it, and only take snippets of the bible that are actually closer to god's real message. How do we know it you ask? because faith, if that's bot good enough for you then you are clearly misinterpreting what religion relies on, religion is a matter of faith, not hard proof and evidence, and to be clear with you, i do not believe in pearly white gates i just believe there is a soul behind this universe. not a conscious soul. a soul. . https://www.goodreads.com... . http://dictionary.reference.com... (Religious references without using the bible is going to be hard, but lets see how it goes. ) (think i chose a big one as my first debate, don't hold back, it's great for learning)