Are religions evil?

What do all these have in common: a documentary on the BBC about illegal Zionist settlers in Palestine, the recent news about a couple owning a B&B who refused to accommodate a married gay couple and the heart breaking story of a little girl caned to death for being pursued by an older neighbour?

They all make me feel distinctly depressed about the extremes of behaviour that religious faith can drive individuals to.

This was also one of the points that kept being made repetitively, and boringly, in the debate between Tony Blair and Christopher Hitchens in Canada. The former cited the many examples of extraordinary charity, support and goodwill carried out by religious people and groups around the world. The latter noted the evil, intolerant and bigoted behaviour often seen by the same.

So is it a one-all draw? Well, essentially, yes. Human beings have the capacity for exceptional love and kindness; and evil and misery. Religion, for its enormity, for its calls for sacrifice and powerful action, can push these tendencies to each extreme.

What distinguishes religion from other drives which lead people to behave well or badly (sexual desire, hunger, ignorance, empathy, etc) is that those extremists on either side are willing to act <<in the name of their religion>> The Israel/Palestine conflicts might be best understood using a realist theory of international relations but it is carried out in the name of God or, rather, of different Gods. Whatever the role of Judaism or Islam is in the conflict, it is tarnished by the religious language used on either side.

I think it is probably an important caveat that the vast majority of religions, in the vast majority of their interpretations, stress love, forgiveness, mercy and generosity. Those who commit extreme acts of viciousness are generally to be found far outside the majority opinion of the faith. This is not to say that there are no 'mainstream' popular theologians, thinkers and religious leaders who freely propagate some horrible beliefs - homophobia springs to mind here in particular - but these examples are rarely typical of the core teachings of the faith.