outlawauron on 27 October 2008
| Impulsivity said: In America I run into stories about abortion clinics being blown up and doctors shot year after year without fail. Then I watch people like Sarah Palin refuse to call these people what they are, terrorists. If events like that which continue today and have been going on for hundreds of years in both the US and Europe lead me to be somewhat annoyed about the excesses perpetuated in the name of religion I don't think I'm being too unreasonable. A lot of people do good work in the name of religion, say, working at a soup kitchen. A lot of the same kinds of people do the same kinds of work with no religious involvement though. There is the religious Salvation Army but then there's also the non religious peace corps. Religion is not required to help people. On the other hand I have never ever run into a situation where an atheist committed atrocities because he was anti god and wanted to show the world how anti god he could be. 9/11, abortion clinic bombings, doctors being shot, gays being denied basic rights, slavery and countless other dark days in American history have heavy religious community ties. Just today I found out that the Mormon church has given tens of millions of dollars in league with other religious institutions to support prop 8 here in california, a prop that ensures gays are denied any and all marriage rights simply because of their inborn sexual orientation. Why? Because the Bible says God thinks they're sinners of course! Personal religion is fine, sometimes even a positive influence in the lives of some people. Public religion is not fine and must be guarded against. It is fine to hold strong beliefs and live with god in your heart every day. What is not OK is pushing those beliefs on others either through infringing on their freedoms (prop 8), taking their lives without good reason (killing doctors), carrying out acts of terrorism (9/11, abortion clinic bombings) and taking other such actions. Just as in Islam there is a difference between the peaceful practitioner and the radical, there is the same split in Christianity. I put missionary work in the 2nd category, it is theological warfare designed to destroy the beliefs of others and supplant them with Christianity. If it is fine to be a Christian and Christians believe they should be free to practice, and they are correct in believing that, then why is it not fine to not be a Christian and be left alone without being subjected to endless conversion attempts? Again though, boys and girls club, Peace Corps, Teach for America and countless other public service organizations exist all over America without needing religion as a reason to do good. Those who do good only because they seeks some kind of heavenly reward are not in fact good people, but more theological brown nosers. Those who are truly do good are willing to do good with or without reward and those kinds of people do exist both in and out of churches. Exibit A of an athiest who does good work and has a generous heart? Warren Buffet http://atheism.about.com/b/2006/07/07/warren-buffet-atheist-philanthropist.htm He has given more to charity then anyone else alive and continues to do so (he's giving his entire fortune, which will probably be near 100 billion at the time of his death, to secular charitable causes). That kind of assertion that only religious people can be good moral human beings is precisely why overt public religiosity is so destructive. |
Alright. You assumed to much, but I'll better explain where I am coming with that comment.
I live in South Louisiana and have weathered two drastic hurricanes in three years. Besides our slowly improving state government, the churches in the area were the only ones helping out (giving away food, tarps, and even gas).
Not once did I say or think that all athetists have bad moral values. I know some awesome people who are atheists.
And you must have much hate going on, because your attempts to generalize a few attacks are Christianity's violent crusade against the world are so one-sided, it's funny. It's like me saying that Muslims are all terrorists. Not true.
