Is Religon harmful to society?

Okay, here are the rules:

Round one is for acceptance only, no arguments should be posted.
Please, no hate speech or insulting people's intelligence.
Please give actual arguments.
No forfeits.

while religion causes a lot of problems and wars, overall.... it is better for society because it keeps people in check.

if most religious people didn't have religion hanging over their head, they would be a lot more likely to engage in conduct detrimental to society, like stealing, killing, phsyical and sexual crimes, etc etc.

First, I will give my own reasons why I think religion is harmful, and then I will counter my opponent's argument.

Here are my arguments:
1. Religion is harmful to science- Religion has slowed down the progress of science in so many ways. First, stem cell research is not being funded because the religious people believe embryotic stem cells have souls. They believe that stem cells are more important than an 8 year old girl with diabetes. Almost any biologist would tell you stem cell research is what we need to be doing. Also, religious people try to take evolution out of the classroom; thus, making our children scientifically illiterate.
2. Religion causes wars- Religion has been the cause of so many wars. People kill each other because of what is said in their holy books. Their books state that anyone who thinks different of them should be killed.
3. Religion is harmful to children- A new study suggests that children who are brought up in religious environments have a more difficult time distinguishing fact from fiction. They will, therefore, develop more slowly academically, and do poorer in schools. http://www.iflscience.com...
4. Religion causes people to do evil- The bible, the Quran, and many other religious teaches people to be evil. The Bible states that men are superior to women and slavery is acceptable. Most people do not live this way; however, some people do.

Counters to my opponent's arguments:

My opponent states that religion makes people be good, that is not true. People can be good without religion. Many atheists live perfectly moral lives. And may I add: The Bible is an immoral book.

it may be true that atheists give theists and christians and religious types, a run for their money in terms of following moral codes of conduct.

but the problem is that even if athests aren't religious, they are influence by religions general code of conduct. in past times, without religious influences, a secularist would be known to do things we would see as immoral, and in fact harmful to society.

so, don't look to the followers of religion, look to the religions themselves, and the priciples that they cause to influence society.

First, my opponent responded to none of my arguments, but once again, I will counter his arguments.
My opponent said, "it may be true that atheists give theists and Christians and religious types, a run for their money in terms of following moral codes of conduct.but the problem is that even if atheists aren't religious, they are influence by religions general code of conduct. in past times, without religious influences, a secularist would be known to do things we would see as immoral, and in fact harmful to society."
Response: Atheists most certainty do not follow religious morality. It is true that many atheists have the same moral foundation as religious people, but that comes from our concise, which has evolutionary reasons. And most atheists lead perfectly good moral lives. If your only reason for being good is that you do not want to go to hell, then you are truly immoral. If people followed religious morality, we would be killing people, rapping little girls, stealing, taking people as our slaves, and not allowing women to work.

there have been corrupt societies. moral norms depend on the culture. if we want a culture that abides by 'good' behavior, we have to have it develop on its own, or we can ahve religion influence the norm. currently, religion does influence the norm. and people abide by it, even if they aren't religious.

the norm is what people abide by.....
http://en.wikipedia.org...

and if the norm isn't good, again, it doesn't cause a 'good' society.

that atheists and theists have about the same amount of crime shows that they are in no way superior. or that that system is in no way superior. even if theists had slightly more crime, it only shows that those who are prone to crime are prone to taking a religion to help saved them, and their thought processes are volitile.