(May 18, 2012 at 5:20 pm)Annik Wrote:(May 18, 2012 at 5:16 pm)Polaris Wrote: Even when you factor the Crusades, the death toll due to religious conflict is still minimal when compared to societies that tried to succeed without it. Religion has been a great tool for keeping societies together, but maybe now in the 21st century (definitely not the 20th) we can have societies that don't need that crutch to survive.
Religion has been a great tool for oppression. Religion was not only the backer for the Crusades, but the horrors of the Dark Ages, the Witch Trials... And these are just some of the Christian ones.
Plus the soldiers of that time had to rely on weapons whose killing power was minimal compared to modern weaponry. Yes, they still managed to slaughter each other in pretty fair numbers, but nothing like the numbers they would have gotten with even the weapons from WWI.
Religion is not the answer-it is the problem. Everything considered, we would be better off without it.~Baubles of Blasphemy~Edwin F. Kagin
"Much better to have the ability to think critically, than the ability to quote scripture. One says you have a functioning mind. The other says you're a parrot." -- The Secular Buddhist
"Much better to have the ability to think critically, than the ability to quote scripture. One says you have a functioning mind. The other says you're a parrot." -- The Secular Buddhist