Opinions?

[Jason James Gairn]

The biggest terrorist attack on homeland USA prior to 9/11 was committed by a Roman Catholic. Should the Vatican city be added to the axis of evil? Is the office that the pope holds historically that different from the office held by Osama Bin laden?

I think probably not. The evil that men do has and is being done in the name of god. Rubbish! God told me to skin you alive, god told me to drop fire on people, god told me to bulldozer your homes. Poppycock! Hearing voices in your head is a sign of mental illness, and it passes the buck responsibility wise. God hasn't told anyone to do anything ever. Men do it because they are evil, power hungry psychopathic bigots. No matter what faith they pretend to hold.

Let us divide the evil ones from the plain ignorant ones.

Opium for the people?

[Dagmar]

The eradication of evil and an end to ignorance is what many religions promise but manifestly fail to deliver.

 

Probably because a healthy dose of tolerance is required; something that is iniquitous to religion.

[Dagmar]

Believing that secularism will make the world a better place is a matter of faith. So its not really that different from Christianity or Islam.

 

 

Yes it is.

 

Secularism demands tolerance of individual thought. Although it may need to be enshrined in law for example in Turkey or Syria. Turkey is becoming more fundamentalist and as a consequence the secular values of the state are being eroded.

[TheTreeWiseMen]

Yous a naughtie boy TWM, that ones so provocative that I wouldn't even begin to formulate a public opinion upon it.

Particularly the pro Israeli rhetoric toward the end.

 

I'm intrigued to see who responds.

 

:wave:

[Jason James Gairn]

The eradication of evil and an end to ignorance is what many religions promise but manifestly fail to deliver.

 

Probably because a healthy dose of tolerance is required; something that is iniquitous to religion.

 

Seeing as all religions have some form of judgment day, some Armageddon, I guess they could make good on their promises should a Nuclear war happen. The total eradication of the human species, would eradicate evil and end ignorance. Is it to late to become a Nihilist. might form a secular group of tree surgeon nihilists. Not that I care.

Cant' believe Dagmar and I nearly see eye to eye for once. My profanity has found a home in the Bosom of her research. That'll be the deicide.

[Sevsafe]

So did Stalin, Mao and Hitler.

I think Hitler was Catholic! a point made by Richard Dawkins in The God Delusion is that however 'evil' these types of people may be they don't commit their atrocities IN THE NAME OF atheism unlike Christians, Muslims etc. Islam is a few hundred years younger than Christianity so is perhaps going through it's Crusades/Conquistadores/Spanish Inquisition phase. I'm totally in favour of tolerance and like the concepts of secularism as described in Dagmar's post but I think it's naive to entirely separate all the nice loving charitable Muslims (or any other group) from the fundamentalist extremists amongst them. There is an 'element' of convert or die in both Islam and Christianity. Now one for the Neo-Darwinian Mechanists - if life is purely a chance occurrence what the **** does 'evil' mean? or come to that good - surely there is only survival and procreation - we're just here to further the existence of DNA?!