Hey auto:

Nothing of the kind. Why do people have to only see one extreme. There have been plenty of terrible things that have been done by organized religion.

There have been plenty of terrible things that have been done by organized religion.

There have been plenty of terrible things that have been done by organized religion.

There have been plenty of terrible things that have been done by organized religion.

There have been plenty of terrible things that have been done by organized religion.

That statement is suitable for quoting.

The sign of an argument rather than a discussion is to refuse to acknowledge that someone has made a statement, no matter how often they repeat it. This is one of Shambles favorite defences... usually posed as a question... as you have just done, auto. No matter how many times I acknowledge that there have been terrible things done in the name of organized religion I will be characterized as refusing to ackowledge it. Why even have a discussion if someone is unwilling to recognize that another person is trying to look at an issue from all sides? (and of course, Shambles will brush all of this off by claiming that it is a personal attack.)

That said, there are many things that are done in the name of religion, democracy and love that are done by individuals or orqanizations who claim that they are doing them in the name of religion or Democracy when they are done out of other motivations. If someone truly wishes to have a reasonable discussion and not just endlessly rant, they can acknowlege that reality is much more multi-faceted than their supposition.

Did I mention that there are many terrible things that have been done by organized religion?

Perhaps those who are making such an oversimplistic statement would like to post that not all things done "in the name of religion" are the fault of religion, and some/many (pick your percentage) of evil acts done in the name of religion are done by mentally ill individuals and are not the fault of religion.

It's like the argument that video games make children violent. Or playing with army 45's when I was a kid made us all gun worshippers.

Some folks think endlessly laying blame on others is a parlor game.

Jerry