i better start building my Agnostic League HQ in the remote mountains of Andes ...

Matt, I would be very glad to help you with this ... Ok one of the absolute biggest things that "religion" has directly affected is in the area of human sexuality. To cause one to feel as though they can't even abstain from masturbating for their own God will screw you up big time. In this particular example, I am of course talking about the catholic church taking a chapter of the bible totally out of contex and adopting a doctorine forbidding people to masturbate. This is both unnatural and impossible if you are male. It causes low self esteem and shame and guilt to consume our youth. I know one thing and that is if God created us to be sexual, it is a spit back in his face to pretend we are not.

The text in the bible FYI was about a man spilling his seed after God commanded him to impregnate his dead brothers wife. He pulled out and spilled his seed and God got angry. He was angry because he had not obeyed his command to impregnate not because his jizz went on the floor!! But this is exactly the basis by which it is forbidden in that particular religion!! Now countless thousands have since read the same text and surely know it is based on a misunderstood interpretation, yet they have never chose to change their docturine. There is yet another example of how religion affects people badly. I mean a dad to tell his son he can't beat off knowing its based on misinformation .. Shameful.

Also surely it can be directly a religion when people kill others in the name of ALa or whomever. Right? The religion and essentially the particular people in the sect of religion that caused these things to happen. There is history by which you can clearly see religion at the core for many horrible things .. However and as I said earlier.. It is the greed and power of a very select few that are benefiting from these "religions" and they will continue to perpetuate and exploit the basic human need to be loved and be needed and or important .,.. for purpose.

I understand religion has a purpose, but IMO its purpose is evil and that is how I feel. I think the facts of history prove that.

All of us have always had that lil something deep inside us, from when we were children even... that untouchable but knowing that we were each created special. That there is a higher purpose maybe but we all just know that there must be a GOD. Then we let inherited faith systems or hard knox and control rewrite the voice inside us. Its not our fault but it happens all the time anyway. I know the voice inside and it is very cool.. But Religion holds folks down and keeps them from who they were created to be. That is not what any God would do to you.

Hope you receive this in the spirit it was intended. Thanks for listening!