Want to join the debate? Check out the Intelligence Squared website to hear about future live events and podcasts: http://www.intelligencesquared.com/ __________________________ In this speech from our 2007 debate, 'We'd be better off without religion', the late Christopher Hitchens argues that religion has been at the root of many of the conflicts that have shaped the 20th-21st century world. He cites the current situations in the Balkans, the Middle East, and Northern Ireland as examples, noting that in these places, it has been intra-faith disputes that have caused or aggravated the conflicts and slowed political and social progress.