Nope simi?
But I understand why you feel that way. Religions have the tendency to lock in believers with dogmas and dictate their everyday lives. Perhaps I should have stated I was looking at the positive aspects. Religion helps one find meaning in the suffering of the present, be compassionate towards other humans, indulge in good societal behaviour, blah blah. So that people will LOVE you for being such a wonderful person.
nope si nope lah!
Religion has always been a mixed bag. What was a traditional folklore to be passed down orally, became more and more formal. Back then, it was just telling stories, like Aesop's fables. This oral storytelling is found in cultures throughout the world. Usually marked with a good / evil duality where the kaki nang is the good and the outsider is evil. Although it started simply as a way of passing down traditions or practices that the elders wanted to pass down, as it grew, people lost control of it and it became whatever the chosen elder of the day wanted it to be.
So today, people see how big Islam has grown and who's in charge? Well, I dunno. A whole bunch of people with their own ideas. Some good some bad some absolutely terrifying etc... But people point to Islamic terrorism and the first thing I think of is the Spanish Inquisition. Then I think of the Catholic flagellants. Then I think of the Israelites when they were still tribal nomads killing the Amalekites and some of the Canaanite tribes down to every last man, woman and child as described in the Torah. Then the KKK. Then I think of the wars committed in the name of religion, probably the most famous being the crusades, then the Ottoman holy wars, the Jewish holocaust. Then the Bosnian war which I would call a religious motivated war and it can be argued the Manifest Destiny in America and residential schools in Canada.
Female circumcision? Male circumcision? I dunno, but I'm not sure the positive aspects outweight the negatives. Initially yes when it was small and well cared for, but once it grew, it got out of control. Kinda like fire.
*phew* puts fingers back on...