The idea of god and the teachings of religion are superstitious and show discrimination and cruelty

Alright let's get cracking. I would like to remind everyone that the Burden of Proof lies with the Pro here, as he has to prove how religion is the basis for immoral acts. Also, to the Pro. Religion does not translate into Christianity. If you are to make the claim that Religion as whole is not good, then please represent all of it, not just one part, even if it is the most prominent. But enough of that. On to my opponent's arguments. 26, "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. 27, And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple". HA! I can't believe this! Many years ago when I attended my dad's church in Washington D.C., he told me about this very passage and how so many people misunderstood. Trust me, once you get it, you won't think of it as bad. I wish the Bible went into a little more depth with this, but let me explain, because a lot of people don't like this passage. It's a metaphor. It's supposed to be a comparison. Your love of God and Jesus in comparison makes it look like you hate your family. Now, that is clearly not the case. God encourages you to love your neighbor and thy enemy, but again, it is simply a metaphor. He is not literally asking you to hate your family, don't worry. A lot of people misinterpret this. God is not demonstrating an abuse of power, he is just requesting our love, albeit in a very strange way. "If a man practices homosexuality, having sex with another man as with a woman, both men have committed a detestable act. They must both be put to death, for they are guilty of a capital offense." I am glad you brought this to my attention because a lot of people are mad about this passage too. See, in that time of society in Jerusalem and a lot of other places in the world, homosexuality was often frowned upon. So you could say this is a warning to homosexuals at that time to be careful, because if people found out, they could be killed. It was a temporary passage of sorts. Now that we are in a more accepting age, we can shed that old belief and live as one. Sorry, but your conclusions about homosexuals going to hell are wrong. They are people like everyone else. And please do not bring up the thing with priests please. It's not Christianities doctrine for us to rape kids, that is just some psycho having his way. The entire religion can't be judged for that. Now onto your talk about a single shred of evidence for God. Okay, a lot of your stuff is just terribly wrong and outdated, a fact I find sad that so many atheists assume these things without actually knowing about them. For instance, Creation could very well have happened with Evolution. In fact, I have accepted both Evolution and Creation, as most of the Christian world has. Literally 1% of us still are hardcore creationists. It could be the events of the bible did happen just over a longer period of time, in the terms of evolution. A lot of the things that came to be in the universe that we know of match up with the bible. Let there be light. Big Bang. Separate waters from waters and divide the skies. The earth was molten and formless and then water came to be and an atmosphere came to be. That's just to name a few. Yeah we get a lot of gripe for Noah, but floods happen, and major floods that swallow lands happen In fact, there are many legends about two people being saved from a giant flood in many cultures, such as Sumerian, Greek, and Hebrew. While it could have been exaggerated when they said flooded the world, to the people at the time, it very could have felt that way. Another thing about the logic. Yeah, logic is great, but one must understand. God is outside logic. He can change the rules of the game if he wants. Like if I made up a new version of tag, I could do something totally illogical. Didn't bother me. Yeah, a lot of people still do think gods made it rain and stuff. Now we know that isn't true. How does this show that Religion shows discrimination and cruelty? Who cares if someone believes in the Flying Spaghetti Monster and they believe he sends the winds and rain? Again, you are wrong in this Creationism view. I met an atheist who all he thought of Christians were just creationist freaks, when in reality, the mainstream Christian society has accepted Evolution and all other sciences as valid. I hope you do not become here. As such, I hope you Creationism isn't your main argument here, because it's totally irrelevant. This last one is just wrong. Plain and simple. Please, give me the direct passage where it says the earth is still ad the sun revolves around it. This is a blatant lie. The Bible never said this. It was just a common belief at that time. I hope you won't start crap like the other guy, firing off random irrelevant facts that don't even apply to this day and age, and focus just mainly on Christianity. Your job is to prove that all religions are "bad." And we cannot argue that Religion is superstitious. That's a known fact. Of course it is. That's like trying to argue Red is a color.