Religion Harms Society | David Silverman | Oxford Union

ladies and gentlemen good evening I'm a little surprised that Mara necess started her talk by saying religion doesn't tell people to kill anybody maranatha Leviticus 20:13 says if a man lay with a woman lay with a man as he lay with the woman he has committed an abomination he shall be stoned to death by the congregation and his blood is on his own hands you mentioned the Ten Commandments commandment - thou shalt make no graven images the penalty is death commandment 3 remember the Sabbath and keep it holy the penalty is death and of course ladies and gentlemen commandment 1 I am THE LORD thy God thou shalt have no other gods before me the penalty is death ladies and gentlemen I'm going to take the rest of my information my time today to talk about what Michael mentioned about the knowledge and the morality of religion all believers ladies and gentlemen are victims because they've been brainwashed into thinking that everything we know is wrong and that ancient myths are actually true but religion also affects society at large making it a factor of ignorance and immoral behavior for the believer and the atheist alike the house has asserted that religion harm society and this statement cannot be overstated case in point consider some simple observable truths about religion number one religion lies it takes credit for doing things that it did not do thanks to religion knowledge isn't learned or guessed it is given by God accomplishments aren't made because people did great things but because the religion because of the religion to which they adhere people do good things not because they are good but because they are religious in the end religion does nothing but take the credit for the accomplishments of the people or the society in order to legitimize itself in the eyes of the flock number 2 religion was created with yesterday's knowledge and to form religion took the credit for that knowledge and called it divine the problem is that back then we as a society knew much less than we know today indeed religion was invented because they were so many unanswered questions and religion answered those questions with legends and tall tales and sometimes outright lies the languages of the world were formed at the Tower of Babel child birth is painful because a woman listen to a talking snake and of course the entire universe was created just for us by the invisible magic man in the sky religion also is made with yesteryears morality for which religion once again took the credit this is good because God says so again times were different back then slavery was common rape was a fact of life so the morality that was written into the texts reflects those ancient ethics this is why there are no Commandments prohibiting slavery or rape there is no women's equality in the Bible because women weren't equal when the Bible were written but then but then religion doubles down taking what's wrong taking it's wrong knowledge and wrong morality and refusing to grow with society yes that's that's off my topic that's called compartmentalization and I'm not going to get into that right now it's called compartmentalization it's a meant it's I write about it in my book it's a it's a it's one of the ways that religion infects people but I'm not talking about how religion affects people I'm talking about religion affecting society today and then religion doubles down and this is the problem okay because religion places an anchor in yesterday and holds its believers to yesteryears and yesterday's morality and knowledge since religion asserts that its teachings are correct and perfect it is loath to admit it's wrong it's loath to admit it's wrong about anything I'm short on time here because if it is wrong about the Tower of Babel or flying horses it can be wrong about other things as well and religion surely doesn't want anybody doubting it god-given perfect morality is too hard to amend it's hard to say God changed his mind so as we learn as a society religion resists attacking science and moral progress while supporting yesteryears knowledge and yesteryears morality science becomes anti religion tolerance and equality and religious diversity in general become attacks on God we as a society are trying to remove are trying to move beyond yesteryears prejudice but since religion calls yesteryears prejudice perfect and can't admit that it's wrong religion is a worldwide force for promoting yesteryears prejudice but religion doesn't stop and adherence because it cannot allow it cannot grow its influence if Outsiders know how wrong it is so it uses its money and power to squelch anything that proves it wrong religious myths need equal time with science class so other people's children can be taught that God did it as real as valid science laws are passed prohibiting anti religious expression make blasphemy illegal and those championing equals a equalizing religion with everyone else are labeled anti religion ladies and gentlemen there is an undeniable result to all of this and much to my opponents chagrin it is quantifiable and provable Greg Paul writing for the journal of religion Society performed quantitative research which showed quote in almost all regards a highly secular Democratic Euler democracies consistently enjoy low rates of social dysfunction a separate statistic called the successful society scale shows a significant correlation between a country's religiosity and a lack of success as a nation the HDI index which measures quality of life shows a strong negative correlation between the religiosity of a society and the happiness and well-being of its people all neutral all statistically significant all supporting today's notion and there is more ladies and gentlemen indeed study after study show that societal religiosity positively correlates to poor social development and lower quality of life as well as greater income inequality increased child mortality and overall unhappiness religion of course ignores these results literally pretending the proof isn't there just so it can save its supposedly perfect face religion isn't just wrong ladies and gentlemen it is Pro stagnation and we as a society need to recognize it as such religion takes credit for yesterday's knowledge and then refuses to learn religion takes credit for yesterday's morality and then refuses to grow and then to protect itself from being forced to admit it is wrong it attacked science and progress on the widest possible scale hold on I'm almost done as a result religion holds back whole societies and lowers the standards of living for everyone all so it doesn't have to admit it is wrong like our opponents are tonight ladies and gentlemen my Bell has rung but the question is solved because but religion keeps denying its errors it keeps saying no it is it no it is it no it isn't deflecting its criticism denying its errors and demonizing its opponents but if I may paraphrase paraphrase John Cleese religions benefit to society is an ex parent it is dead and I urge you to vote for tonight's motion thank

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Keywords: Religion Harms Society, David Silverman, Religion, Harms, Society, David, Silverman, Oxford Union, American Atheist, Atheist, Atheism, God, Faith, Belief, Beliver, Killing, Punish, Religious, 10 Commandments, Teachings, Bible, Islam, Blaphemy, Corruption, Reality, Morality, Religion Debate, Oxford, Union, Oxford Union Society, Oxford University, University, Debates, Debating, Interview, Debate (Quotation Subject)

Id: A9zds4U3L4s

Length: 9min 27sec (567 seconds)

Published: Mon Nov 18 2013