Religion is the cause of many of the world's problems

Before I say anything else, I would like to define what I meant by "problems in the world" is any type of problem that involves either the actual planet OR the people of Earth. This includes conflict between the people and religious intolerance, as an example. It is not limited to the literal Earth, and instead includes the population as well. Religion Causes Environmental Issues: Environmental problems that we face in our world today have only one cause: people. By twisting the truth, we have seemingly justified the creation of gas-belching machines that pollute our ozone layer every day, or destroying a forest so its resources can be utilized for commercial reasons. Our economic and industrial world has progressed in so many ways, and is much different than it was centuries, decades, and even just years ago. Yet the further we go to make our own lives easier and more enjoyable, the more we pollute the only planet we have thus far. A multitude of religions have used their fallacious religious values to defend their environmentally polluting actions. Human beings will go to great lengths to justify their behavior, sometimes even misinterpreting their own religious text so that they may pretend that polluting the environment is their gods', or God's, will. For example, many Christians use their own foolish misinterpretations of their Bible to claim that they may exploit the Earth as they please. According to The Encyclopedia of Earth Organization, "The famous essay published in Science in 1967 by Lynn White, Jr., stands out as condemning the prevailing interpretation of the Bible in Christianity for humans to multiply and dominate the Earth as the primary cause of environmental crises. His analysis generated a major controversy that continues and stimulated the growth of the fields of environmental ethics and ecotheology." The Bible has been edited and rewritten so many times that it is easy for it to be misinterpreted by Christians who are not aware of the environment around them. Many truly believe that God wanted for us to mine the Earth for resources so that we can survive and thrive in our continually advancing world. Christians are not the only ones to blame for environmental issues. A primary example would be the water pollution in Ganga. The residents of Ganga, who are Hindu, worship the water as their mother. However, the Ganges River is now heavily polluted with human sewage, bodies and cremated ashes, industrial waste, and more. Those who drink, bathe, wash their clothes and dishes, and play in the Ganges River can contract many diseases, such as e-coli, typhoid, tuberculosis, and gastrointestinal bleeding. Fish in the River are on the brink of extinction, and only about 2000 dolphins are left. Yet despite the obvious issues present, the people living in Ganga have faith in the river and continue to worship it, even as they cause these problems. If they took the simplest of precautions to protect the river that they claim to love so much, they could continue to worship the river without polluting the environment and the surrounding life forms. While many may argue that it is the people, not the religion, that causes these environmental issues, the people polluting our environment do so in the name of religion, and sometimes are not even aware of the impact the pollution has. Many religious rites pollute the air and water around us, such as in the festival Ganesh Chaturthi, where an idol of Ganesh is immersed into the water. The materials that this idol is made of (commonly plaster of Paris) is non-biodegradable, meaning that it won't decay in the near future, if ever. It will continue to pollute the water, along with the paints and decorations adorning it, for a very long time. While no one can argue that religion causes all pollution, the fact remains that the practice of religion is responsible for much pollution in the world. Bibliography- http://www.eoearth.org... http://www.slideshare.net... http://www.rwlwater.com...