Some prominent atheists such as Christopher Hitchens take flak for describing religion as an evil influence on society. They call religion a source of violence and hatred, and blame a disproportionate amount (if not all) major acts of violence on religion. Critics of this viewpoint often take the opposite stance, claiming that religion is a source of moral good, charity, rainbows and puppy dogs. They also go on to criticize atheism as being the root cause of evil, usually claiming that atheists cannot have a moral compass due to lack of a belief in god.

Often times, this debate takes the form of a numbers game; as both sides try to see how many deaths they can blame on the other side. Atheists cite pogroms, ethnic cleansing and holy wars while the theists cite famous atheist dictators like Joseph Stalin and Pol Pot. Clearly, both sides have been responsible for numerous atrocities and millions of deaths.

So who’s right? Unlike most issues, the answer to this question does not lie somewhere in between the two extremes. In fact, both sides are wrong.

The problem is in the question being asked. Neither religion nor atheism is responsible for causing the most harm because neither causes harm. Of course, there are obviously some harmful beliefs out there (cults, etc.), but for the purpose of this post I am limiting my discussion to mainstream beliefs. When somebody kills other people in the name of their god, it is not because their religion has transformed them into a bad person. They were already a bad person; religion just provided them with a convenient outlet for their anger. Similarly, when a kid decides to go shoot up a bunch of his classmates, it is not because he lacks belief in god; it is often because they have been ridiculed at school, and are somewhat mentally unbalanced. South Park had the right idea. If religion were to disappear tomorrow, we would have just as much violence and death. The same people would be committing violent acts, and killing other people, but they would just do it for a different cause.  Similarly, people who do good work in the name of god or religion would probably continue to do good work, even without religion.  Beliefs do not cause people to become violent, they merely provide a convenient excuse for violence; and while religion may one day disappear, beliefs never will.