@Clark Kent : I think you need to go back and re-examine your logic..First, correlation does not mean causation. Yes, the Bible (and the Koran, and the Bagavad-Gita, and just about every other religious text) include descriptions of violence and cruelty. So do history books, Shakespeare’s plays, and most great novels. Are they also therefore evil? Could we eliminate violence and cruelty from the world by burning all the books and erasing all the histories? I somehow doubt it..Second, there is contrary evidence to the claim that religion somehow causes violence and cruelty. Joe Stalin killed more people than Adolf Hitler; Mao killed more than Stalin, yet both were devotees of “scientific, atheistic Communism.” It would appear that whatever evil is manifest in our species cuts across all religions, including the religion of unbelief..Third, while nearly all sacred writings depict the violence and cruelty that is inherent to our species, these writings also depict this tendency as a flaw (e.g, “original sin”), an inherent broken-ness in our nature that we ourselves cannot cure. And, after identifying this flaw, the sacred writings of all faiths go on to express the hope for a supernatural remedy (as we have already demonstrated we cannot find a remedy on our own). And they contain advice (said to be divinely revealed) which, if we took it seriously, would significantly reduce if not fully eliminate the violence and cruelty in the world..So I respectfully suggest that when you claim religion causes violence and cruelty because it depicts these things, your argument is analogous to claiming that medical journals cause disease by reporting on it and discussing ways in which it might be treated.
@Clark Kent : I think you need to go back and re-examine your logic..First, correlation does not mean causation. Yes, the Bible (and the Koran, and the Bagavad-Gita, and just about every other religious text) include descriptions of violence and cruelty. So do history books, Shakespeare’s plays, and most great novels. Are they also therefore evil? Could we eliminate violence and cruelty from the world by burning all the books and erasing all the histories? I somehow doubt it..Second, there is contrary evidence to the claim that religion somehow causes violence and cruelty. Joe Stalin killed more people than Adolf Hitler; Mao killed more than Stalin, yet both were devotees of “scientific, atheistic Communism.” It would appear that whatever evil is manifest in our species cuts across all religions, including the religion of unbelief..Third, while nearly all sacred writings depict the violence and cruelty that is inherent to our species, these writings also depict this tendency as a flaw (e.g, “original sin”), an inherent broken-ness in our nature that we ourselves cannot cure. And, after identifying this flaw, the sacred writings of all faiths go on to express the hope for a supernatural remedy (as we have already demonstrated we cannot find a remedy on our own). And they contain advice (said to be divinely revealed) which, if we took it seriously, would significantly reduce if not fully eliminate the violence and cruelty in the world..So I respectfully suggest that when you claim religion causes violence and cruelty because it depicts these things, your argument is analogous to claiming that medical journals cause disease by reporting on it and discussing ways in which it might be treated.