God

[Ian W.]

But, if religion is supposed to be a unifying force, why does it, directly or indirectly, kill more people than any other reason?

What you are saying, is that religion is a tool to be used for power. That fits with my personal theories on religion, but it doesn't go at all with what you're trying to say, I think.

Religion, from what I can tell, is supposed to bring peace. To paraphrase from some religious book (I have no idea where it came from, and I'm too lazy to go and hunt down my Siddur), "Nations shall not lift up sword against nation, and they shall experience war no more." That is said almost every time I'm at a service at my temple, be Rosh Hashanah, or a Friday night service that my parents ask me to come to. To me, that means that religion, or at least Judaism (I can't say for anything else, I don't really know), was created to bring people together, teach them morals, and attempt to make peace.

Seeing how Christianity and Islam both come from Judaism, I'm going to assume they have the same basic goals, but I can't be certain.

I just don't see how religion can be both a tool used by man, but also the grand unifying thing for the Earth. It just doesn't work out, at least how I see it.