Taliban stoning to death of man and woman for adultery

[highwaystar101]

sapphi_snake said:

highwaystar101 said:

It's true. In fact you can find extremists from any religion. But do they really still count as part of that religion when they become extremists?

There is an article in Focus magazine this month that talks about how the structure of cults and the tactics they employ to get people to become sympathetic to their cause and join (little short of brainwashing). But what was interesting is that cults and extremist groups follow the same structure and recruit people the same way, so one could make the argument that extremist groups are no longer part of the religion, but have split to form a new religion.

Or they represent what happens when people fully follow a religion. Maybe they're the "true believers".

Well, I disagree I'm afraid.

I think that often the extremists have their own agendas, and often you find that they purposefully misinterpret the text to suit their own agenda.

It's like the Westboro baptist church using the book of Leviticus for their anti gay agenda. Every christian worth their salt knows that Leviticus is not supposed to be used as a moral guide, because the teachings of Jesus superseded it (thankfully, Leviticus would be an appalling book for morals in modern society). But that doesn't stop Westboro baptist church picking out a few key passages from Leviticus, discarding the rest*, and using them to support their extremist views.

It is the very definition of misinterpreting the bible, and I think this is a fairly typical example of the mentality behind the extremist groups.

Ask someone who knows the texts well, like MrStickball for example, I'm sure they'll agree (hopefully).

(*I'm certain that even Fred Phelps would confess that a bat is a mammal)