Religion

=== Violence ===
{{Main|Religious violence}}
{{See also|Islam and violence|Christianity and violence|Judaism and violence}}

Critics such as [[Hector Avalos]],<ref>{{cite book |title=Fighting Words: The Origins of Religious Violence |first=Hector |last=Avalos |publisher=Prometheus Books |location=Amherst, New York |year=2005}}</ref> [[Regina Schwartz]],<ref name=ReginaSchwartz>{{cite book |title=The Curse of Cain: The Violent Legacy of Monotheism By Regina M. Schwartz |url=https://archive.org/details/curseofcainviole00schw |url-access=registration |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=1998}}</ref> [[Christopher Hitchens]],<ref name="Hitchens 2007">{{Cite book |last=Hitchens |first=Christopher |title=God is not Great |publisher=Twelve |year=2007}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=September 2010}} and [[Richard Dawkins]]<ref name="Dawkins 2006">{{Cite book |last=Dawkins |first=Richard |title=The God Delusion |publisher=Bantam Books |year=2006}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=September 2010}} have argued that religions are inherently violent and harmful to society by using violence to promote their goals, in ways that are endorsed and exploited by their leaders.

Anthropologist Jack David Eller asserts that religion is not inherently violent, arguing "religion and violence are clearly compatible, but they are not identical." He asserts that "violence is neither essential to nor exclusive to religion" and that "virtually every form of religious violence has its nonreligious corollary."<ref name="CruelCreeds1">{{cite book |last=Eller |first=Jack David |title=Cruel Creeds, Virtuous Violence: Religious Violence Across Culture and History |year=2010 |publisher=Prometheus Books |isbn=978-1-61614-218-6 |quote=As we have insisted previously, religion is not inherently and irredeemably violent; it certainly is not the essence and source of all violence.}}</ref><ref name="CruelCreeds2">{{cite book |last=Eller |first=Jack David |title=Cruel Creeds, Virtuous Violence: Religious Violence Across Culture and History |year=2010 |publisher=Prometheus Books |isbn=978-1-61614-218-6 |quote=Religion and violence are clearly compatible, but they are not identical. Violence is one phenomenon in human (and natural existence), religion is another, and it is inevitable that the two would become intertwined. Religion is complex and modular, and violence is one of the modules—not universal, but recurring. As a conceptual and behavioral module, violence is by no means exclusive to religion. There are plenty of other groups, institutions, interests, and ideologies to promote violence. Violence is, therefore, neither essential to nor exclusive to religion. Nor is religious violence all alike... And virtually every form of religious violence has its nonreligious corollary.}}</ref>

==== Animal sacrifice ====
{{Main|Animal sacrifice|l1=Animal sacrifice}}

Some (but not all) religions practise [[animal sacrifice]], the [[ritual]] killing and offering of an animal to appease or maintain favour with a [[deity]]. It has been banned in [[India]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/02/india-court-bans-animal-sacrifice-hindu-temples |title=Indian court bans animal sacrifice |agency=Agence France-Presse |newspaper=The Guardian |date=2 September 2014 |access-date=17 December 2016 |archive-date=27 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160827053603/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/02/india-court-bans-animal-sacrifice-hindu-temples |url-status=live }}</ref>