I understand what you are saying. And yes, there are many many good people who belong to all faiths, and to no faith. Most people (good and bad) don't get to choose what religion they are taught to believe from birth. I just think it is a shame that religion is such an easy way to divide people into us vs. them. The fact that religious beliefs are held to a higher respect than other ideas (not allowed to criticize them) makes it so much harder to prevent the abuse of religious beliefs. I think that religion, for most people, is just an extension of their ego. A person will interpret his religion so that it conforms to his own opinions about the world and about those "other people". If that person is taught to hate the "other", then they will interpret their religion in a way that justifies that hatred. I don't think it's really true to say that when someone does something bad in the name of their religion, they are not following that religion. To them, they are following it perfectly. And to the rest of the world, that's all that matters - the end result. That just shows how malleable religious belief is, and how dangerous it is. It is open to anyone's interpretation, and not only that, but those interpretations cannot be reasoned with because religion is placed "outside of reason" to an unassailable place, and then given special respect where criticism is seen as terribly offensive and punishable. That's why I oppose religion in general because good people will do good, with or without religion, and bad people will do bad things with or without religion, too - but giving those bad behaviors the protection of being "sacred" makes it much more difficult to solve all of those problems. Many people say that the world's conflicts are not caused by religion, but that they are caused by economic and political injustice, greed, bad human nature, etc. I think this is true for the most part. But while it is not religion that creates those problems, I believe that religions make it nearly impossible to solve them because of the tribalism and groupthink that are necessary for a religion to thrive. To me, tribalism means placing loyalty to one's own group above doing the what is right (or conflating the two). As long as people see this world as just a temporary stop on the way to paradise, there will be religious conflicts. And I think it is only a matter of time until mankind is destroyed by it. This is why I oppose religion in general. I know that most people are good people, and all the people of the Earth should consider themselves as brothers and sisters, but instead it is and has always been divided. Religion only perpetuates that division, in my opinion. All of the good that religion promotes can still be achieved without religion. If we did this, the problems of the world would be much easier to solve. If people cared more about this world than what has been promised to them in the afterlife, the world would be a better place.