Religion has had a negative impact on the world

"The reason there are wars over religion is the fact people are idiots, nothing in the bible was meant to be taken literally" This wasn't the point of this debate, while we can argue over whether or not the bible was meant to be taken literally or not (personally I see it difficult to take this "If a man lies with a male as with a women, both of them shall be put to death for their abominable deed; they have forfeited their lives." in any other way than as a commandment). The point of the debate was over whether or not religion in general has had a negative impact on the world and mental acrobatics such as "religion is about peace and spirituality and belief in a greater being, Religion cannot have a negative impact on the world unless you see peace, harmony and good morals as negative" religion is simply defined as "the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods.", there is nothing about peace an harmony in the definition of religion. "anyone who fights for religion should not be part of that religion at all, religion is about peace and spirituality and belief in a greater being" This is one of the most blatant no true scotsman arguments I have ever heard. I can't really say much more than that. Lets look at what religion has done in the past few hundred years: Events: Radical islamic violence/terrorism (including 9/11) [1] [2], Molestation of children in catholic schools [3] Genocide in Bosnia [4], Aggravation of AIDS epidemic in africa [5], IRA and war in Ireland [6], White suprematist terrorism in USA [7], Radical Israeli zionism [8], Partition of India [9], Holocaust and suppresion of Jews in Natzi Germany [10], http://news.bbc.co.uk... [11} Russian pogroms [12], Justifying slavery in USA [13], Justifying genocide against native peoples in the British colonies [14]. Doctrines and practices: Indoctrination [15], Infant genital mutilation [16] [17], Female genital mutilation [18] [19], Physiological torture [20], Labeling of children [21], Suppression of homosexuality [22] [23], Shariah law [24], Implementation of religious doctrines to the general population [25]. Post note: Just continue the debate, there is no reason to skip a round, I'm sure everyone will overlook it. [1] http://jeffreyfields.net... [2] http://wikileaks.org... (part 3) [3] http://www.bbc.co.uk... [4] http://www.crimesofwar.org... [5] http://news.bbc.co.uk... [6] http://www.fas.org... [7] http://home.wlu.edu... "The KKK uses words from the Holy Bible and teachings from Protestant Reverends to support its cause and justify its actions." [8] http://www.onepalestine.org... [9] http://www.bbc.co.uk... [10] Mein Kampf page 60 "Hence today I believe that I am acting in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator: by defending myself against the Jew, I am fighting for the work of the Lord" [11] http://news.bbc.co.uk... [12] http://www.ushmm.org... [13] http://religion.blogs.cnn.com... [14] http://www.theguardian.com... [15] http://psychsocvalues.files.wordpress.com... [16] http://www.cdc.gov... [17] http://en.wikipedia.org... [18] http://www.nhs.uk... [19] http://www.meforum.org... [20] http://goddoesnt.blogspot.co.uk... [21] http://old.richarddawkins.net... [22] http://www.isreview.org... [23] http://www.anu.edu.au... [24] http://www.howieunveilsgodsshield.com... (this one has annoying adds) [25] http://drawmuhammad.tumblr.com... "You say that Islam doesn"t condone violence, but there are many Muslims who would disagree with you. People get killed over depictions of Muhammad. I"ve never heard of anyone getting killed over a picture of Jesus or a picture of an atheist. THAT is why we do this. It may be a dick move but your religion needs to understand that no amount of offense warrants murder. We have every right to draw silly pictures of a figure from history, and you have every right to get angry and complain. But until Muslims stop killing over stupid things like this, we will not stop offending you."