Religion is overall not beneficial to the well being of society and humanity

I will now follow this with my opening argument, pertaining to the rules he’s set forth. The Case for Religion’s Positive Impact. Now, contrary to my opponent’s argument, I will provide direct evidence of the people using religion as a positive force in the world, rather than use correlations as most of my argument. It will be simple, as there will be no rebuttals in this round. Premise 1: Religion in itself is neither harmful nor beneficial. For this debate, I will argue that religion is largely a neutral force as far as societal impact and impact in general goes. Let’s take a car, for example. A car can either be a great means of transportation, or a way to kill someone. Many people are responsible with automotive vehicles, while many others drive drunk or other irresponsible things and end up hurting or killing someone. But does that mean we should get rid of cars because they have been and are continuing to be abused? Do we give up a truly great form of transportation that’s helped shape our lives for the last century? If your rational thinking skills are functioning, you would be strongly opposed to such a notion. And that logic doesn’t only apply to cars, it applies to any major thing that has been used to negatively or positively impact us. Trains, guns, cars, airplanes, and of course, religion. Premise 2: Religion has been used for good many times throughout history. In essence, religion has been used many times as a force of good, and if we were to get rid of it, much of that good will have never happened and may never happen in the future. Take a look at all the homeless children that have been put into shelters and fed; that is one of the prime examples of that. (1)(2) Or take a look at Mother Teresa. Granted, she definitely had her flaws, but if she had never lived and religion had never been, she may have not been motivated to do all the good she had done in her lifetime. (3)(4) Or take for example all the starving children in foreign countries that Christian charities help to feed. (1)(2) I could go on and on… but sadly, I don’t have enough character space. So my point here is that if we never had religion, those people may have not been motivated to do the good they did, and the good they do, and the good they could do in the future. Premise 3: Religion in itself in general is not evil nor teaches or preaches it. Obviously, I will focus on the two biggest major religions for this premise: Christianity and Islam. But if my opponent wants me to go further into other religions then I will. The definition of Christianity is “Christian religion - a monotheistic system of beliefs and practices based on the Old Testament and the teachings of Jesus as embodied in the New Testament and emphasizing the role of Jesus as savior” . http://www.thefreedictionary.com... Now, the harsh laws in Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy are not binding on us today. The beginnings of each of the books make it clear that those laws were only given to the children of Israel back then, and not to Christians; because that was long before Christ was born and the religion was founded. However, the books following them explain the prophecies of the coming Savior, and books that tell what indefinitely pleases God, rather than sets of laws that were given to a certain group of people. Namely, His teachings are found in the New Testament. In the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, is there one time he preached hate to any group of people? Did he ever say “He shall be hated by everybody who worships me because I command it. ” or anything like that? I don’t think anyone will find such verses in the Bible that tell of that behavior from Jesus. Mark 12:31 states that we should love our neighbors like ourselves. He means everybody when he says this; not just Christians. (5) Islam Here I will take a different route. Islam in itself seems to be hateful against all other nonbeliever of the faith. The Bible makes it clear that we are all children of God, but the Quran states otherwise, saying that Muslims are of a single brotherhood. (6) It also states that Allah does not love unbelievers. (7) And what’s more is that it establishes a hierarchy or relative worth. (8) From just this verse and others like it stems a whole superiority complex leading to terrorist acts. So I will agree with the opinion that Islam is not a great religion on the basis of its seemingly morally abhorrent teachings. However, we are talking about religion in general, and the largest major religions. And the largest religion in the world is currently Christianity, so that is where I believe the debate should focus on a little more. I am not saying that Islam should be exempt, nor am I saying that all religions are neutral. I am saying that religion in general is not the problem. However, certain religions or people that choose to abuse religion in general or in particular are the problem. ConclusionReligion in general has been used repeatedly as a positive force in the world, and since it is not a sentient being with a mind of its own to cause things, it is not the problem; the problem is the people that choose to abuse it. I have provided evidence for my argument and I eagerly await my opponent’s responses. Sources(1) . http://www.feedthechildren.org... (2) . http://www.wesh.com... . http://www.examiner.com... (3) . http://www.notablebiographies.com... (4) . http://history1900s.about.com... (5) . http://www.biblegateway.com... (6) . http://www.usc.edu... (7) . http://www.usc.edu... . http://www.usc.edu... . http://www.usc.edu... (8) . http://www.usc.edu... . http://www.usc.edu...