Religion is NOT the cause of war and human oppression.

My opponent has seen fit to construct a straw man argument and therefore tried to discredit a position that is largely non-existent. It isn't all too often that people say that religion is the reason for war and oppression. What they do say, mostly, is that religion is a major contributor but is not the sole reason for human misery. Religion advocates faith as the rock for its foundation. Faith is not a virtue. Faith is nothing more than rejecting empirical evidence in favor of having comforting beliefs. It is to believe because you want to believe despite logic to the contrary. When an entire belief system is devoid of rational thought then it becomes a dangerous tool. The followers are at the mercy of the scriptures unless they decide to be hypocrites by cherry picking. It isn't merely a misunderstanding when Islamic fanatics cite scripture to justify the slaughter of infidels. They even tell you the chapter and verse to look it up for yourself. So why don't we take their cue? "Remember thy Lord inspired the angels (with the message): 'I am with you: give firmness to the Believers: I will instill terror into the hearts of the Unbelievers: smite ye above their necks and smite all their finger-tips off them'" (Sura 8:12). These are words supposedly ordained by an almighty god. Would you disobey him if you believed in him? You would slaughter infidels to gain the favor of this imaginary friend. Why wouldn't you? His words are absolute and he defines morality. Your reward is an eternal paradise. But we're merely talking about violence. What about the oppression of women? "Men are in charge of women, because Allah hath made the one of them to excel the other, and because they spend of their property (for the support of women). So good women are the obedient, guarding in secret that which Allah hath guarded. As for those from whom ye fear rebellion, admonish them and banish them to beds apart, and scourge them. Then if they obey you, seek not a way against them. Lo! Allah is ever High, Exalted, Great." (4:34)' "...unto the male is the equivalent of the share of two females." (4:176) Do you consider women to be inferior to men? Don't you believe that sexism is oppressive? My opponent has claimed the following: "My resolution is that that there is an underlying part of human nature that is responsible for war and religion CANNOT be cited as the cause." You have failed to identify what this underlying part of human nature would be. Allow me to showcase an aspect of human nature that supports my conclusion. Humans are terrified of the unknown. We don't know what our purpose is in life. We don't know why we are here. We surely are at a loss in knowing the outcome of our death. Yet religion promises the answers for these questions that burden us. But it's at a price because it also as shown above commands us to slaughter the infidels. Religion is at fault for plenty of the killings of innocent victims and the brutality against women because believers openly admit and prove that they have done it for their religion. Without religion we would be merely still afraid of the unknown. Religion latches onto this fear and advocates the use of violence to spread itself. It can be said without a doubt then that religion has largely contributed to human suffering. Your argument thus has been shown to be faulty.