Imagine no Religion...

This news breaks my heart. We are living in the 21st Century. However, in Somalia on October 28 a woman who was raped was found guilty of "adultery" by Islamic courts, buried to her neck, and STONED TO DEATH. All of this occurring in a soccer stadium in front of a crowd of thousands...

Why do I, an atheist, care about religion?

Because of stories like this. Stories of people who might otherwise be good, be so manipulated by "infallible dogma" that they can commit heinous evil.

And before the Christians can claim a moral high ground, I would recommend they check out the following verses in their bibles:
First: Mat 5:18-20 to establish the fact that the Law stands... every "jot and tittle" straight from Christ's supposed mouth.

Let's take a look at the Law the "perfect, all knowing, all good, all powerful God" commanded:
Deuteronomy-
17:2-7 <--Kill everyone who has religious beliefs that are different from your own.
24:10-23 <--Whoever curses or blasphemes must be stoned to death.
A man curses and blasphemes while disputing with another man. Moses asks God what to do about it. God says that the whole community must stone him to death. "And the children of Israel did as the Lord and Moses commanded."

Who else should be killed, Lord?
Homosexuals should be stoned: Leviticus 20:13
Children that Curse their parents: Leviticus 20:9 Exodus 21:17
If women being raped don't scream loud enough: Deuteronomy 22:23-24
A woman if she isn't a virgin on her wedding night: Deuteronomy 22:13-22

Don't pretend for a second that Christianity is any better... just don't.

However, I can pre-empt a popular response. If you turn your bibles to John 7:53-8:12 you can read the story of Jesus and the Woman taken in adultery. it's everyone's favorite verse, "Let the one who is without sin among you be the first to cast a stone at her." Powerful stuff. Then, he actually lets the girl go and doesn't condemn her (possibly because she's actually innocent, because he's never let a guilty person off the hook without a good chastising in any of his other accounts). It raises some questions... does Jesus really think the Law of God given by Moses was no longer in force and should not be obeyed? Did he think her sin should not be punished?

Doesn't matter, actually because here's the kicker: it was not originally in the Gospel of John. In fact, it was added later by scribes. The story is not even found in early manuscripts of John; such as the two 3rd century manuscripts of John's gospel (P66 and P75 for "papyrus 66 and 75") as well as the 4th century Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus where we get more or less the best and most complete early version of John's gospel. No, the story mysteriously pops up circa 400 AD in Codex Bezae. The vast majority of textual scholars even admit that this story was made up.

For the laypeople, here's a wikilink:
Pericope of the Adulterer