Religion - This is a big one. I am an atheist. Not only do I not believe in a god or other higher power or authority, I personally think religion is debilitating to the general well being of the human race. I have encountered very few people that do not use a religious stance to further their own agenda, impose their wishes and beliefs on someone else, or as a barrier against discovery of personal faults and character flaws. A thorough tour of the history of religion, and of subjects of nations in general is very convincing.

Speaking of touring history, this is why, in my opinion, censorship is so big with religious ideologies. There is such an abundance of convincing evidence showing religion does us little good that knowledge is restricted. It is restricted because religion is in fact debilitating, and 'discovery' is always a possibility. If an ideology, any ideology, were otherwise, there would be no fear of people doing any research that takes them away from the ideology, because any endeavor would lead back to the 'truth'.

Any religion is, or should be, a search for meaning and truth of existence as a whole. I'm not saying there is one, but I think it is a worthwhile endeavor. The only way for the human race as a whole to attain such a goal, such an understanding, is through discussion and research. True discussion has to be honest, open, questioning debate. Anything less and the human race will continue to stagnate as we have for thousands of years. Some would say we have improved, but any perceived improvement is superficial at best. In this very century we witnessed the atrocities of Hitler. This very day there are leaders in this world that value human life no more than he did. There are still those today that believe a particular race of people are superior to others.

So, some would say we have come a long way. In fact, we have come only a short distance. Only when the majority of the human race value the human spirit as a whole, and the knowledge we can gain, will we be closer to defining a real, tangible purpose, and closer to achieving true civilization.