And just as murderers have been released and re-offended, so too have innocent people been executed (http://www.innocenceproject.org/). When we kill, no matter what the supposed reason (justice, deterrent, etc.), we are no better and committing the same wrong we seek to redress.

Volumes have been written on this topic, and this forum is far too limited to bring the full evidence to bear for both sides. Briefly, lets look at some of the fundamentals of the major religions that have impacts on the world today, and since many of these posts have spiraled in to discussions on war, lets skip that point, too. What remains are bigotry and homophobia (Christianity), fairy tales (creationism), widespread repression of women and brutal, unjust punishments (Islam), class repression (Hinduism), state subsidized robbery (Judaism) and murder and extremism (all of them!). Ironically, even today's atheist leaders are guilty of the same intolerance they level against the religious, and this too is yet another negative consequence of religion in the world today. And this is by no means the complete list of today's ills. Looking at history, we would need volumes. While there is no question religion has done some remarkable things in the world, it has done so at a terrible cost. Historically, it may have had a place; that's another topic. The major religions of today are nothing more than anchors miring society in the past, forcing people to cling to doctrine created centuries or millennia ago and promoting backward ideals that have no place in a modern, enlightened society. The net effect of major religions hold us back as individuals, and hold us back as a species.