the catholic church is the single most corrupt and indoctrinating organisation since time began

============ Introduction ============ My opponent has an incredibly large burden – he need not only show that the Catholic church is by and large a corrupt institution, but that it is, among the copious list of crazy and corrupt cults and organizations, the single most corrupt AND indoctrinating. This burden is actually impossible to prove, in that he has no means to quantify. Nevertheless, I will offer to my opponent a list and quick explanation of some organizations that I think would do him well to consider: ============ Institutions/organizations to consider: ============ Islam: Is the most indoctrinating seen in terms of size? If this were the case, then it is actually the Muslims who are more indoctrinating than the Catholics – with a whopping 21.01% to the Catholics 16.99% (1). Do wars and death play into the mixture? It should be understood that out of the 1,763 wars chronicled in the encyclopedia, only 123 of them could in some way be tied to religion. That is only 6.98% of all the wars recorded. However, 66 of the 123 wars were waged by Islamic-regimes. In light of such evidence – it is obvious that Catholicism cannot be seen as the most corrupt in terms of wars when Islam has instigated more than half of all the wars that can reasonably be tied to religion (2). Atheistic Communism: If war, death, and political anti-religious indoctrination are of any factor, then certainly atheistic communism needs to be considered. Between 1917 and 2007 approximately 148 million were killed by 52 atheist leaders, that is three times more than all the human beings killed by war (The Irrational Atheist 240). Moreover, Atheist leaders forced their countrymen to publicly proclaim atheism and there are many accounts where persons were killed because they would not recant their faith. These atheist leaders specifically sought to eliminate religion because of their forms of atheistic communism (3). Scientology: Do secrecy and science-fiction roots play into the mixture? Certainly scientology is laden with outrageous claims and a veil of suspicious secrecy. North Korea: Now if censorship, anti-religious indoctrination, suppression and oppression, secrecy, false imprisonment and persecution are to be considered hallmarks of corruption and indoctrination, then certainly North Korea should be at the top of the list. North Korea's past is not only laden with corruption and indoctrination, but its current state is still hopelessly morose – the same cannot be said of the Catholic Church. ============ My Analysis of the Catholic Church: ============ The Catholic Church definitely has some rather dark moments in history. But it is not only ingenuous to hold only the bad against the Church, but wholly incorrect to think that Church's past state is rightly indicative of its present state. You will notice that my opponent says that the Catholic Church "IS" the most corrupt and indoctrinating institution – yet in his opening statement he mentions the Church's history. This is inconsistent with my opponent's use of the 3rd person, present indicative "is," which means that the Catholic church must be shown as presently the most corrupt and indoctrinating. Admittedly, in 15th century and early 16th century, before the protestant reformation, the Catholic church was in need of some serious changes – but the catholic laity was more aware of this than any other group. There was corrupt leadership; monasteries became houses of leisure and fashionable soirees. The catholic prelates were exploiting the poor, and the so-called apostolic succession was merely a chain of those who could buy the papacy and other Catholic offices. But there were many internal forces calling for change and reformation within the church, among them was Erasmus of Rotterdam, a distinguished humanist. It should be noted that Martin Luther himself was a catholic, looking first to reform the church internally (4). However, not long after the protestant reformation, the Catholics did surmount the internal tyranny of corruption and trust was given back to the papacy. No doubt my opponent will wish to bring up the inquisition and the crusades – but these actions – though very wrong – pale in comparison to the actions of other very corrupt institutions that have no corresponding acts of goodness. Moreover, my opponent must show that the Catholic Church is currently the single most corrupt and indoctrinating institution, not that it WAS or HAS in the past been. Also, the Catholic Church should not be seen absent of its good deeds. You will find there are no Skeptics' or rationalists' hospitals, charities, or aged-care homes, no evolutionists' orphanages, welfare agencies, or relief agencies, or any other life-improving institutions such as those founded and funded by Christians who have followed Jesus' teachings. Sources: 1. http://en.wikipedia.org... 2. Vox Day, The Irrational Atheist 3. http://en.wikipedia.org... 4. Justo L. Gonzalez, The Story of Christianity, Volume 2