Resolved: Christianity is negative for society.

I look forward to debating my opponent and make a case that when taken as a whole, Christianity is good for society. I ask my opponent to post actual arguments instead of simply referring to Bible verses. This tactic gives me little of his own arguments to refute and I have to spend a lot of time and effort explaining Biblical teachings and theology rather than debating my opponent. Contention 1: The Bible is an inherently flawed protocol. My opponent states that the Bible is an inherently flawed protocol. Even if it is flawed, (I don't think so) my opponent has to show on balance how the teachings of the Bible are more wrong that right. So if the Bible unjustly condemns homosexuality, but still remains suboptimal for society, then it cannot be a negative for society. Biblical Promotion of Sexism (BPS) Rebuttal 1- These verses are not sexist but rather state the truth about how society operated at the time. My opponent is taking these passages out of context. The Bible does not infer that women are less than man. To the contrary there are any passages that state women are of equal dignity in the eyes of the Lord. (Galatians 3:26-29 is a good example of this) Rather these Bible verses are telling women a reality of society. Generally everywhere it was a patriarchal society where women were subservient to men. This was a reality of that society that, much like slavery or polygamy, had no chance of abolition at the time. "Supporters of women's rights argue that the secondary status of women was not decreed by God for all time; like slavery, it was primarily a concession to the realities of Biblical-era society. " (. http://www.twopaths.com...) My opponent also fails to mention how Jesus Christ himself was instrumental at tearing down bigotry and sexism. Look at the story where Jesus talked to the Samaritan woman. Jews at the time did not talk to women or Samaritans in public, much less a Samaritan woman. (John 4:4-30) My opponent also fails to mention Martha and her sister Mary. At a dinner Martha was preparing the meal while Mary sat as Jesus' feet while he taught her. At the time Jewish women were not allowed any active role in religion. But Jesus taught her like she equal to men. When we look at the actions of Jesus Christ we see a man who treated everyone whether they were a different race or sex the same way. Luke 10: 38-42 BPS Rebuttal 2- Such statements were necessary as not to harm the sympathies of society, thus insuring Christianity's ability to gain converts and protect members of Christianity Once again we must look at the state of society. Would Christianity be able to gain converts if it destroyed the established order? Christianity would not be able to convert people to their religion if they upended the establish order. It was also necessary to insure the safety of Christians. Members of Christianity were commonly looked upon with disdain and fear by the pagans. Persecution was common among members of Christianity. That is why the leaders of Christianity wanted people to fulfill their roles in the established order, whether it is as a subservient wife or a slave. They did not want to give the pagans any reason to attack members of Christianity. Titus 2: 3-8 BPS Bebuttal 3- Such Bible verses do not describe Christianity today. This one is really self-evident. The majority of Christians today do not follow the role of wives being subservient to their husbands. Many Christian women go out and have jobs. They have ran for office, joined the military and are able to vote. My opponent also fails to mention the role that Christian women played in obtaining equal rights. "The Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) was the first organization that promoted the social reform that gave women equal rights" (. http://en.wikipedia.org...) Many members of the suffrage movement were Christian and used Christian teachings to sway opinions in favor of their movement. Biblical Condemnation of Homosexuals (BCH) Rebuttal 1- Prove that the verses are incorrect about the immorality of homosexuality, nor do those said teaching cause harm in-and of themselves. You simply state that condemnation of homosexuality makes the Bible a flawed protocol. However this is incorrect as you have not proved homosexuality as morally permissible. The only thing you have done is state that the Bible teaches the homosexuality is wrong. While the Bible does teach that homosexuality is wrong. As with all evil, God calls for his people to reject it. However any sort of persecution that they would normally suffer under different belief systems is countered by Jesus with the implementation of the Golden Rule. And also the Sermon on the Mount. Biblical Condemnation of Other Religions (BCOR) Rebuttal 1- The Bible condemnation of other religions is not immoral. Ancient Israelites were fighting against pagan who practiced human sacrifices, incest and other evils. It seems like those religions were worthy of condemnation. It was these pagan religions God was talking about when he called for their destruction. Also life during the Old Testament was very violent with different tribes of different religions constantly fighting. It was a kill or be killed life. I also find it ironic that you are saying the Bible is flawed because of it when you seek to do the same thing is this debate. Now my point isn't that you are immoral for denouncing a religion but why does the Bible denouncing other religions make it a flawed protocol. Please explain why such condemnations make the Bible negative for society and I will respond further. Rebuttal to all BCOR and BCH Rebuttal 1- The Biblical condemnation of other religions is irrelevant in determining whether or not the teaching caused social harm. While the Old Testament is very harsh in its dealings with other religions, it was reversed with the new Covenant in Christ. In the book of Matthew, Jesus taught us to love our enemies. This includes people who differ in belief and practices from us. Thus it is really irrelevant at proving these Bible teaches cause harm, as Jesus calls us to love them regardless. The Bible May Not be Legitimate (BMNL) Rebuttal 1- The possibility that some writers may not have priestly connections is irrelevant. Whether or not the Bible is a legitimate source of God's word does not show whether or not the Christianity or the Bible has affected society negatively. I believe if you look at Jesus teachings of loving everyone regardless of their beliefs then we can tell that such teaching would have a positive impact on society. BMNL Rebuttal 2- Any evidence is speculation at best. These methods do not seem to take into account several things. First, writing styles within separate books of the Bible may differ on the basis of audience. A good example of this would be the Book of Matthew and Luke. While both were gospel they were written differently to appeal to different audiences. Matthew wrote for the Jews while Luke wrote for the Gentiles. Whether or not they came from, "priestly," sources is also difficult to prove. The Bible was not written all at once. Rather it was written over time and survived as oral tradition for many years. God called upon many different types of people to spread his word. The apostles John and Peter were fishermen and both wrote (or dictated) books of the Bible. God has spoken through Gentiles, Jews, the poor and many others. Contention 2 Christianity has been detrimental to society My opponent claims that Christianity has been detrimental to society. His arguments suffer in several ways. My opponent does not distinguish between the acts of Christians and the teachings of Christianity. We are talking about the religion, not the people in it. If a democratic nation is unjust and inhibits the rights of people to vote, is that nation really upholding democratic ideals? Of course not! We can say the same thing about Christianity. I have stated how the Bible and Christian teachings call for tolerance and love of all humanity. If someone acts outside those laws is it fair to condemn Christianity Christianity Has Inhibited Science (CHIS) Rebuttal 1- Taken as a whole, Christianity has advanced scientific thought and discoveries. My opponent mentions the Galileo Galilei and the Scopes Trail as evidence for his claims. I am not denying that these were actions may have inhibited the discussion of scientific findings. However we cannot conclude that two inhibitions make it clear that religion has always inhibited science. Rather we must look at all the net contributions to science and contrast them with said inhibitions. When we do this it is clear that Christians and Christianity has helped the spread of Christianity. While the Galileo and Scope Trail most certainly fall within the category of inhibition, it is not representative of Christianity. We only have to look on Wikipedia to see the relationship between Christianity and science. Many monks, when not praying, devoted their time to academic pursuits. Doing this you can see that many Christians, monks, priests and even a pope studied science and philosophy and made very important contributions to these studies. CHIS Rebuttal 2- The Galileo incident was also partly Galileo's fault Now I am not defending what the Church did here. They did suppress Galileo's findings. However you have to realize that Galileo did not have any proof for his theory. Galileo also lacked the methods to prove his theory. Despite lacking proof, Cardinal Robert Cardinal Bellarmine, the man that was called to adjudicate the conflict between Galileo and his opponents stated that he had no problem with Galileo speaking about heliocentrism, as long as he did so hypothetically and without stating it as true, as he lacked proof. . http://en.wikipedia.org... CHIS Rebuttal 3- The Butler Act only prohibited teaching that man came from a lesser creature, like monkeys. It did not prohibit evolution in its entirety. This becomes evident when reading the statute. It was not some broad sweep act the illegalized evolution, as it is commonly portrayed. Rather the act does as I described in my rebuttal. This is not to say that the Butler Act did not inhibit a part of the theory of evolution. However claims that it completely outlawed it are exaggerated. . http://en.wikipedia.org... Christianity has Prompted Bigotry and Inequality Rebuttal 1- Christianity tells us to love and treat all of mankind the same This is where the distinction between Christian doctrine and the acts of Christians have come into play. I will not deny that many Christians have engaged in acts of hate and bigotry. So has every other group, whether it is ethnic or atheist. My opponent has the burden to show that said teachings influence hatred. On the contrary, we look to Matthew 5: again and see that Jesus called upon us to love all men and advocates nonviolence. Christianity Has Cause Genocide (CHCG) Rebuttal 1- The teachings of Christianity clearly advocate nonviolence See the Golden Rule and the Sermon on the Mount CHCG Rebuttal 2- Were the Crusades a genocide? Genocide, as taken from dictionary. com is the systematic killing of a racial, political or social group. Nowhere is it stated that the purpose of the Crusades to kill all Arabs or Muslims. Rather it was to reclaim the Holy Land and ensure the safety of pilgrims. CHCG Rebuttal 3- The Crusades were justified The First Crusades was not the first conflict between Muslims and Christians. Islam is a religion that spread often through conflict. They took lands belonging to Christians. They eventually spread into the Holy Land persecuted Christian pilgrims. They have even started to invade European lands. Thus it was justified on the basis of self-defense. . http://en.wikipedia.org... CHCG Rebuttal 4- The Inquisition was not genocide My opponent simply states that the Inquisition is genocide. While atrocities occurred with the Spanish Inquisition, calling it genocide is overzealous. The Inquisition was concerned with heretics within the Catholic Church, not race, politics or social status. Once again please post an argument I can respond to. CHCG Rebuttal 5- The Salem Witch Trials were not a genocide and is not representative of Christian behavior. The execution of 24 (as accurate as the figures state, it could be more) people do not constitute a genocide. While there always existed a fear of demons or the use of magic, such charges were usually investigated fully as dictated by law. People who bring false accusations were punished accordingly. Also such treatment of alleged witches was not restricted to Christianity. The Code of Hammurabi called for the execution of all witches. Islam and Indian cultures are also hostile to witchcraft. Christian's Have Attempted to take over government with Relative Success (CTOGS) Rebuttal 1- What proof? My opponent argument is not only offensive, but it is a failure. He states that Christianity itself is trying to run the American government. While Christian people obviously have ran for office and occupied many different positions; that does not equate to Christianity attempting to run the government. The Constitution actually protects the government from becoming a theocracy. My opponent seems to think that Christian activity in government inherently causes harm for governments. This is simply not the case. My opponent needs to prove how Christians being in politics directly harms society. Contention 3 The good things from Christianity are irrelevant The Good Things From Christianity are Irrelevant Rebuttal 1- Evaluating the positive versus the negative is necessary for a moral analysis. Thus the good is not irrelevant and your statements are flawed. If the good is irrelevant in a secular moral analysis, then what is the basis of your analysis? The only way we can evaluate ideals and whether or not they are positive is taking both the good and the bad. No idea, or least the human implementation of it is perfect and all will produce flaws or undesirable affects. Thus as a matter of necessity we must balance the good and the bad. Contention 1- Christianity promotes a positive moral message. Sub-contention 1- Christianity promotes equality I believe that this is undeniable when we look at the Bible. Christianity was one of the first modern belief systems that taught equality. Everyone was good enough to be a Christian. Even people who the society looked upon as outcasts. Sub-contention 2- Christianity promotes philanthropy and good works We find evidence of this in the Bible in many places. (Matthew 19:21) There are thousands of Christian charities that respond to this teaching in many different ways. Catholic Charities helps when hurricanes and other natural disaster strike. Catholic Charities also works to eradicate poverty in America and abroad. In conclusion we realize that Christianity's net contributions to science exceed its inhibitions. Christianity preaches tolerance, pacifism and equality. I had a few more points but it will have to wait until next round, as I am strapped for time. However I believe I did a sufficient job of proving that the merits of Christianity outweigh the negatives.