Is religion inherently evil?

Suppose a person drank too much alcohol at a bar.  This person then gets in their car and attempts to drive home, plowing into another driver and killing them.  Does the victim’s family sue the car manufacturer or the driver?  It was the car that actually killed the other person but the driver was the one that misused something made for legitimate use.

The same can be said about religion, or at least the tenants the religion is based upon.  Does the misuse of religion or the misuse of the Bible prove God is at fault?  Or is it the person who is misusing it? 

Members of the Ku Klux Klan have, at times, used the Bible to justify their racist agenda.  Does the Bible promote one race above another?  No it does not.  The KKK seems to forget that the prominent ethnic groups featured in the Bible are not Caucasian at all. 

The Westboro Baptist Church blames all evil events on the existence of homosexuals.  Does the Bible agree.  No it does not.  While it does speak out against homosexuality it rates it alongside sex outside of marriage as wrong in God’s view.  Neither does the Bible promote or condone acts of violence, bullying or the use of derogatory terms towards homosexuals.  There is no scriptural basis for their hatred.

Muslim fundamentalists combine their twisted interpretation of the Koran with what they believe is Allah’s will to rationalize their acts of terrorism.  Yet that is a polluting of their holy book and the teachings of Muhammad.

Does the Bible condone the abuse of children?  Does it promote hurting those who disagree with your beliefs?  Does it claim one race is higher or lower than another?  Does it say God punishes the many for the acts of the few?

No.

It is a mistake to believe these groups accurately reflect the God they claim to represent without examining the facts for ourselves, and that includes understanding what the Bible actually says.  I believe what the Bible says because I’ve read it and made that decision for myself, not because it’s what my parents taught me and not because I’m ignorant of what others believe. 

If the Bible really did promote everything that is wrong with religion today it wouldn’t be the bestselling book in history.  It would have been forgotten or destroyed a long time ago.