In a world predominately controlled by religious theists, it is necessary to know as much as possible about these faith-based institutions. With thousands of sects of dozens of major world religions, becoming well-informed can be difficult. With each belief system claiming superiority and condemning all others, it is a necessary endeavor. Most of you reading this have heard about the good components of each belief system from their faithful followers so here I will outline the top five worst religions, with justifications of course. So follow me blindly as I present to you the fifth worst religion of all time: Islam.
5. Islam: This one is a given. Muslim hatred of the western way of life and condemning of the ‘infidels’ has led to the death of millions in Jihad’s (Holy Wars- seems a bit contradictory, eh?) throughout time. Now, understand that these terror tactics are not condoned explicitly in the Qur’an, but the holy book has been used to justify them. The Muslim extremists believe that Allah wants them to kill the sinners- and by doing so they are dying for God and will be granted a wealth of prizes in the afterlife (72 virgins, anyone?) As I previously mentioned, the most terrible aspects of this religion are propagated by extremists but they are dedicated to Islam and, without it, it would be extremely difficult to justify their horrific acts. Even outside the realm of the ‘killing-in-the-name-of-God’ mentality, Islam is also a terrible religion because of the human rights abuses perpetrated by its followers; including the materialization, mistreatment, and outright abuse of women– or as they call them Second-Class Citizens. Terrorism, Jihads, Martyrdom, and abuse of women make Islam the fifth worst religion in the world!
4. Jehovah’s Witnesses: Another pretty obvious choice. Jehovah’s Witnesses are primarily considered one of the worse religions because of their undignified attempts to spread their religion. Nobody wants to be disturbed at home to hear the evangelical ramblings of an ignorant person. One of my few joys in life used to be confronting these people and showing my superior knowledge of their own religion (along with its various weaknesses), but over the years it became too easy as each practitioner knew less than the last and eventually they just revert back to the same tagline: “The answer is in the bible.” As if the spreading of JW wasn’t bad enough, the belief system itself is riddled with contradictions and restorationism. For example, Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that there is no Hell, and that the soul and body both die together. Before you think “that seems rational”, consider that they believe that God resurrects the best members of the world to live in a new body in heaven after the end of the world– a number which is limited to 144,000. These 144,000 have already been chosen as well, so if you are a living Jehovah’s Witness today, you accept that you will die and you will NOT go to heaven- but instead be resurrected on earth, but keep knocking on those doors anyway! Though this religion is a branch of Christianity, I felt it deserved its own space as the fourth worst religion.
3: Mormonism: Also known as the church of the Latter Day Saints (LDS). This religious institution has a uniquely peculiar history. The church, introduced by Joseph Smith in Illinois in the 1840’s, is also known for their persistent attempts to convert potential believers using door-to-door guerilla tactics. Other reasons that this religion made the list include the absurd and racist beliefs, and the practice of polygamy by some LDS sects. Mormonism isn’t the most popular religion among younger generations, probably because of the dietary code called the Word of Wisdom, currently requiring abstinence from alcohol, tobacco, coffee, tea, and illegal drugs; caffeinated soft drinks are left to individual discretion. With only 12 million world-wide practitioners, this American religion needs all of the door to door salespeople it can get.. 
So next time you see a well-dressed man on a bike with a grey helmet, remember that they could be believers in the third worst religion of all time!
2: Scientology: I bet you thought this would top the list! Well it’s fairly close at the NUMBER TWO worst religion. The scientology fad has been spreading throughout the world thanks to endorsements by high-profile celebrities like Tom Cruise and John Travolta, but few people know what the belief system is based upon. Firstly, lets acknowledge that the founder (“profit”) of scientology, L. Ron. Hubbard, was a well-known SCIENCE-FICTION writer. The religion’s premise bears a striking resemblance to his fictional works– featuring alien life forms implanted in human’s brains that are responsible for misfortune, anxiety, and stress. As if this weren’t bad enough, Scientology practitioners have recently been flooded with accusations of greed, corruption, and scamming lawsuits because of the income that the church generates from books sales and new member fees.
5: Christianity: YES, the number one WORST religion in the world is also the most popular, this is no coincidence. The more practitioners of a certain religion means the more opportunities to justify negative acts (including violence and bigotry) using their own misinterpretations of the texts. From the cultural genocide of the Native Americans and the bloody Crusades, to the bombing of women’s health clinics and the Ku Klux Klan, Christianity has been the number one justifier for murder, sexism, racism, gender discrimination, and more. Without this archaic institution (and others like it), human beings would be forced to construct their own morality without basing their beliefs on outdated texts. This would be a good thing because as our society develops, we learn. (Example: Slavery is not considered acceptable today, but three-hundred years ago (and in the bible) it was a completely justifiable institution.) Civil liberties have been limited in the United States by the government because of Christianity, even though our government was supposed to have been built on the premise of separation between Church and State. For example, if Christianity was not the force within our government that it is, the right to marry someone of the same sex would be a little debated issue, it seems like common sense to me. So for all of these reasons and more, Christianity is the worst religion of all!
To learn more about secular living or negative effects of religion on society visit my blog at www.davidgmcafee.wordpress.com or e-mail me directly at davidmcafee@oletoday.com. I hope you enjoyed learning a small amount about the dark side of the institutions upon which so many people blindly base their beliefs because of familial ties or fear of the unknown. 
For related articles check out:
Christianity in IV – Is There Faith in Sin City?
Christmas Evolving – Secularizing the Holidays
I am David- I'm a third year English and Religious Studies double major at UCSB and I live on Abrego- I have lived in Isla Vista for more than three years now and I am passionate about bringing local news and information to IV. Please direct all love/hate mail to davidmcafee@oletoday.com :) 
Before you try and publish anything else, you might want to pay attention to making sure that at least the title is correct. Otherwise it’s completely obvious that the article was written by a moron.
Just in case you’re still too slow to catch on, it’s “worst” not “worse” in this instance. Also you fucked that up through the whole article so I guess you really are dumb if it’s not just a typo in the title.
Actually, since the title statement is a comparison between multiple subjects, the use of “worse” is grammatically correct. While the use of “worse” in the article may seem contradictory to the intuitive use of the word, it implies that the author believes that while there may be a religion that is the “worst,” none of the aforementioned is. Therefore, David simply says that in a group of six religions, where the sixth is not mentioned, Christianity is worse of all five mentioned, but not the worst of the group.
Secondly, if the use of the word “worse” prevents you from understanding the gist of the article, then you are the “moron” that you accused the author of being.
An intelligent person would attack the content of the article in a logical manner. You, on the other hand, attacked the syntax and engaged in personal attacks on the author.
The LAST religion, Christianity, was supposed to have read as the “WORST”, -”Christianity is the worst religion of all!” but as each religion prior to that was mentioned in comparison to a MORE TERRIBLE religion- it was supposed to be “worse”. Also your comment was riddled with its own bad grammar so try to argue the facts of the article before attacking the “moronic” grammar.
P.s. Thanks Shounak- You’re right
KTHXBYE
About Islam you write:
…they are dedicated to Islam and, without it, it would be extremely difficult to justify their horrific acts.
+++++
All the religions you cite are powerful because they provide an effective organizing tool. All of them require regular meetings to keep the fantasy alive and these meetings are often used to stoke hatred of other groups and keep tribal grievances from fading from memory. This is why we have Jews and Muslims still fighting over real estate and the fight keep going generation after generation. When children are taken in and subjected to indoctrination, they not only get the religion but they get a healthy dose of hatred and suspicion. The only way to end the mindless strife in the Middle East is to end the practice of childhood religious indoctrination. In this way children will hopefully grow up with an entirely different perspective of their historical situation and can begin to repair centuries of damage caused by generational vengence and tribal thinking.
Religions generate hatred and competition not love and cooperation.
hate hate hate hate HATE!
The worlds worst religion by far is the Pentecostal Born again..protestant Christans…they ve gotten to me personally!
While I understand that this article was meant to stimulate controversy and interest, I think that it focused more on the wrongdoings of the followers of the religion as opposed to the religion itself. It is not the religion that is “bad”, but rather, the people that practice it and use it as an excuse to justify their actions that should be condoned. And I think it’s safe to say that any extremist, religious or otherwise, is usually insane.
you are all fools
Yes, Mike V, everyone else is a fool, and your the smart one.
Until all the WOMEN of the world are united together against the religions, there will be religions!
All religions are MAN made shit!!
Oh puh-leeze. People are people; some people are assholes. Men have had more power over the centuries, so they’ve had more chances to be assholes, but give women time to catch up. Just think of Margaret Thatcher, Lynndie Englund, Sarah Palin and Leni Riefenstahl. Oppose hatred disguised as holiness, and both sexes will have to behave.
ughhh…. christians have never condoned violence or murder it’s in the ten commandments DURHHHH…The Bible does not specifically condemn the practice of slavery. It gives instructions on how slaves should be treated (Deuteronomy 15:12-15; Ephesians 6:9; Colossians 4:1), but does not outlaw slavery altogether. Many see this as the Bible condoning all forms of slavery. What many fail to understand is that slavery in biblical times was very different from the slavery that was practiced in the past few centuries in many parts of the world. The slavery in the Bible was not based exclusively on race. People were not enslaved because of their nationality or the color of their skin. In Bible times, slavery was more a matter of social status. People sold themselves as slaves when they could not pay their debts or provide for their families. In New Testament times, sometimes doctors, lawyers, and even politicians were slaves of someone else. Some people actually chose to be slaves so as to have all their needs provided for by their masters.
The slavery of the past few centuries was often based exclusively on skin color. In the United States, many black people were considered slaves because of their nationality; many slave owners truly believed black people to be inferior human beings. The Bible most definitely does condemn race-based slavery. Consider the slavery the Hebrews experienced when they were in Egypt. The Hebrews were slaves, not by choice, but because they were Hebrews (Exodus 13:14). The plagues God poured out on Egypt demonstrate how God feels about racial slavery (Exodus 7-11). So, yes, the Bible does condemn some forms of slavery. At the same time, the Bible does seem to allow for other forms. The key issue is that the slavery the Bible allowed for in no way resembled the racial slavery that plagued our world in the past few centuries.
In addition, both the Old and New Testaments condemn the practice of “man-stealing” which is what happened in Africa in the 19th century. Africans were rounded up by slave-hunters, who sold them to slave-traders, who brought them to the New World to work on plantations and farms. This practice is abhorrent to God. In fact, the penalty for such a crime in the Mosaic Law was death: “Anyone who kidnaps another and either sells him or still has him when he is caught must be put to death” (Exodus 21:16). Similarly, in the New Testament, slave-traders are listed among those who are “ungodly and sinful” and are in the same category as those who kill their fathers or mothers, murderers, adulterers and perverts, and liars and perjurers (1 Timothy 1:8-10).
Another crucial point is that the purpose of the Bible is to point the way to salvation, not to reform society. The Bible often approaches issues from the inside out. If a person experiences the love, mercy, and grace of God by receiving His salvation, God will reform his soul, changing the way he thinks and acts. A person who has experienced God’s gift of salvation and freedom from the slavery of sin, as God reforms his soul, will realize that enslaving another human being is wrong. A person who has truly experienced God’s grace will in turn be gracious towards others. That would be the Bible’s prescription for ending slavery. SO THINK AND RESEARCH WHAT YOU’RE GONNA WRITE ABOUT BEFORE YOU WRITE IT.
I don’t know that you can really rank religions as they are all based on ancient texts and mythology written by scientifically ignorant people thousands of years ago. They’re all bad and one must throw away logic and reason to believe these writings.
Thans
for the nice post.
Hey..just want to let you know i appreciate your i and some of your posts? well..lol..not really many ones, but i like teh idea
BTW – Im up to about 100 visitors per day.
Really great post to pay attention to at least for me. A small question, why don’t you submit that post to social bookmarking sites? That can bring a lot of traffic here.
Whats Up
You would think that they world have OKd it at teh beginning instead of allowing it to go so long without saying a thing and then bringing it back up when it was too late. my homie dont understand it at all.
Yours Sincerly
Good Day
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