Religion is Stupid

I believe religion is a man-made tool used originally to answer the questions that we couldn't.  Today, I like to think SCIENCE is the best tool used to answer those questions.  Organized religion in the first millenia since Christ was a political tool used to take money from the people, and to manipulate their ideas into starting wars (ex: the Crusades.)  Religion was not being used as a tool to understand the universe, but rather a tool of manipulation.  Religious persecution is the reason this country was founded; yet since the beginning, and to this day, religion has been deeply, deeply ingrained in our government.  

Science, on the other hand, has been seeking AND FINDING answers to the questions that nothing else could.  Since the dawn of science, religion (I'm talking Jews, Christians and Muslims) have not only denied the findings of science, but have persecuted those who seek its further.  Galileo discovered that the world was round, and he was excommunicated and exiled.  Good job, religion.  Darwin studied animals on an island, and came up with a theory of evolution that clearly and logically explains the origins of humanity and every single other living organism.  It was only until recently that the Catholic church declared that the theory of evolution isn't completely wrong, and that it does not clash too much with the theory of creationism (yea... i don't get it either.)  TO THIS DAY, in AMERICA, there is a fight to teach creationism in publicly funded schools (ask Sarah Palin what she thinks should be taught in schools.)  This violates every single aspect that this country was founded on.  What about the kids in school who are not Christians?  What about the kids who would rather learn something that can be backed up by more than faith, maybe a little something called proven scientific data, or FACTS.   No, nobody knows exactly how the universe was created, but that is why we develop theories based on current information.  Oh wait, thats just science.

Overall, I think the reasoning behind religion was lost quite some time ago.  Currently, religion does do some of good things.  Charity is always good, especially welfare, the government form of charity.  Religion is also a great moral compass-- if you want to be a homophobic, non-tolerant drone.  Some modern day negative effects of religion could be the attacks of 9-11, which were openly expressed as religiously motivated.  As unsophisticated as the Islamic extremists look, they are following a more modern religion based around the same God.  It seems as much as Christians don't want to accept the theory of evolution, it is clearly evident that their fanatical bullshit has evolved into justifying mass murder.  GOOD FUCKING JOB.