It's a very old debate. The game was inspired by Lord of the Rings, so at a surface level it's no more evil than that. If you consider Lord of the Rings to be bad news, then definitely avoid D&D. But if you just consider Lord of the Rings to be harmless fantasy, then D&D can be played with the same approach. The game is designed so that a gamemaster (GM) creates a world using the game rules and run the game for the players. Consequently it's up to the GM to determine just how light or dark the game is. Players can find themselve running around with fairies and unicorns, or making deals with devils depending on the GM.
So some GMs can give the game a bad name. Now, one could fault the game for not encouraging players to make lighter environments, but I don't think the game should be held responsible for people who misuse it.
The game does include pantheons of gods that clerics worship to get divine spells, this is true, but this is in a pure fantasy setting, and in no way encourages worship of those gods (which include fictional ones created by the game designers) by the players. This is a standard fantasy approach that can be seen in a great many different games and shows.
