Has religion done more harm than good?

Religion and Politics, they are people who believe the two should remain seperate, my main belief on religion and politics is, they are both hot button topics, both cause great debates, great scandals and can easily ruin friendships, so why in the world do i write about both these subjects? maybe i'm mad, maybe i'm passionate, maybe i'm bored and have a keyboard or maybe i can see how easily religious leaders and politicians could destroy this world if they really wanted to, whatever it is lets get started.

What has religion contributed to society?

For an answer to this question i began an internet search to see what was written out there on the world wide web to bring about positive, negative and maybe even neutral answers a few answers found so far include "Religion has given us many things, for instance, but not limited too, World War I, World War II, The Crusades, Witch hunts, Ethnic cleansing, Genocide, the KKK, Isreal/ Palestine conflict, televangelists, and many, many more atrocities." another answer also claims religion has contributed nothing

"Religion has contributed nothing.

Human beings, some motivated by their beliefs, have made a few contributions in arts, but those pale next to the blood and anti-science attitudes that have caused the deaths of thousands and hampered human progress by millenia."

another answer "I feel it made people feel liable for their actions, brought us out of barbarism"

Did it make us feel liable for our actions or just help justify those actions? how many times have you heard the words "i'm doing the lords work" and seen a bible in one hand and a gun in the other, i'm guessing at least more than once.

In our current day and age our recent history has seen religion hold blame for death and destruction, 9/11 the act of radical Islam, 7/7 Islam strikes again, Israel and Palestine, Judiasm VS Islam, ok so theres three examples and three times the name Islam can be attributed to it, but when we are considering if the religion is evil or not, we need to think, is this Islam as it should be? Is there such a thing as Radical Islamic Extremists?

Former President of America George W Bush and former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair both stated on seperate occasions that Islam is a religion of peace, GWB even went as far to say he had been to a mosque and lsitened to what they were teaching there and heard nothing to indicate that it was evil, so is it that since the President and who knows how many Secret Service Agents were there that the religious leader chose to alter his program to package it as a peaceful religion, or is it indeed a religion based on peace but with followers who still cling to old outdated teachings that condone and even endorse the killing of non worshippers?

"[4.89] They desire that you should disbelieve as they have disbelieved, so that you might be (all) alike; therefore take not from among them friends until they fly (their homes) in Allah's way; but if they turn back, then seize them and kill them wherever you find them, and take not from among them a friend or a helper"

Tyrants in the land

"[28.19] So when he desired to seize him who was an enemy to them both, he said: O Musa! do you intend to kill me as you killed a person yesterday? You desire nothing but that you should be a tyrant in the land, and you do not desire to be of those who act right"

Questions answered in the Islamic Bulletin

What do Muslims believe?

Muslims believe in One, Unique, Incomparable God; in the Angels created by Him; in the prophets through whom His revelations were brought to mankind; in the Day of Judgement and individual accountability for actions; in God's complete authority over human destiny and in life after death. Muslims believe in a chain of prophets starting with Adam and including Noah, Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Job, Moses, Aaron, David, Solomon, Elias, Jonah, John the Baptist, and Jesus, peace be upon them. But God's final message to man, a reconfirmation of the eternal message and a summing-up of all that has gone before was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad through Gabriel.

What does 'Islam' mean?

The Arabic word 'Islam' simply means 'submission', and derives from a word meaning 'peace'. In a religious context it means complete submission to the will of God. 'Mohammedanism' is thus a misnomer because it suggests that Muslims worship Muhammad rather than God. 'Allah' is the Arabic name for God, which is used by Arab Muslims and Christians alike.

Why does Islam often seem strange?

Islam may seem exotic or even extreme in the modern world. Perhaps this is because religion does not dominate everyday life in the West today, whereas Muslims have religion always uppermost in their minds, and make no division between secular and sacred. They believe that the Divine Law, the Shari'a, should be taken very seriously, which is why issues related to religion are still so important.

That last question i think indicates where a major disagreement about Islam comes from, the law known as Shari'a Law, Shari'a Law is meant to act as a guide for Muslims to follow much in the same way as the Ten Commandments act as a quide for Christians, but Shari'a is much more than that once coupled with the punishment for breaking Shari'a which still includes death by stoning and other such outdated methods for punishment but this has also caused response from the other side about American Laws, if you commit a murder in certain US States you could still face Lethal Injection or the Electric Chair, so why does Shari'a cause conflict between the west and the east? to answer that question you must look so much closer at Shari'a and understand what you can be punished for and how severely, under Shari'a, also the other practices of Muslim females being joined in marriage with someone at the age of thirteen has also caused disgust in the western parts of the world.

But i seem to ramble on and remove from the topic altogether of is Religion Evil, well for now my fingers have grown tired of typing so in part 2 of this multi-part debate we will look at Christianity is it a force for Good or a force for Evil also if i type longer i will mirror what i did in one of Internet Radio Broadcasts from a while back and go more in depth into the ins and outs of Shari'a Law and eventually as i continue i will be looking more at the contributions these religions have made to the world around us, but untill then please comment and share your thoughts