An article in the LA Times about how religion can also stand up for good, and so pay attention all you neo-atheists!  Religion doesn’t just kill people.  I’d obviously agree, but I think that arguments like this are relatively unsophisticated.  I’d say the real problem is ideological commitment to certain goals to the extent that these goals are much more important than human lives–this can take the shape of Christianity, Islam, fascism, whatever.  This sense of transcendence is ultimately what religion is–not a set of core beliefs.  The author more or less agrees with me later on, but I still think that the discussion is ultimately fairly useless.  Can religion do both good and bad things?  Well, sure, so can knives.