Are there any religions or cults that you just do not understand? With in reason.

[sapphi_snake]

padib said:

Problem with this is that history has also been on the side of Christianity. I can name Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa and numerous others who served for justice in the name of Christianity. Ghandi was harmonious with Christianity, just not with Christians.

On the other spectrum, history shows us Nazist germany, Red Russia and other societies based on Atheist ideologies and teachings such as evolution, eugenics, low value of human life and such. In that way history also supports Christianity.

In some fewer cases history supports the other end (such as the crusades), but even those are not nearly as devastating as those I mentioned above which involved mass murders in staggering numbers.

The future looks grim, and it's mostly due to the increased ideology that human life is not worth more than we used to value it. Christianity teaches that human life is of high value, I can't say the same about most other ideologies.

Back on topic, religions I don't understand are mostly cults, Atheism when its proponents believe they are intellectually superior, and even some forms of Christianity, which mostly involves legalism, I have a difficult time with. Any form of brainwash, repression of inquisitiveness and curiosity, dogma, repression of legitimate and innocent expression, any of those I'm strongly opposed to.

Not really fewer. It's not just the crusades, but also the persecution of non-christians after the religion became official, the Inquisition, the wars between catholics and protestants, the persecution of Jews (actually, the hatred of Jews is largely due to christianity, and while the Holocaust wasn't directly caused by christians, the unpopularity of the Jews was their doing, along with the unpopularity of gays, another persecuted group during the holocaust).

Also, you only mentioned 3 exemplary people, one of which was not even a christian (calling Gandhi a christian, or claiming that christianity was the main religion that inflienced his actions is quite dishonest).

And none of the 'Atheist ideologies' you mentioned are actually atheist ideologies. And in the end, when christianity (which you claim teaches that 'human life if of high value') was in power, it wasn't much use to maintaining peace, or keeping people from getting persecuted. Christians would kill non-christians, forcefully covnert people, persecute anyone who didn't want to follow the dogmas etc. It was only after the rise of secularism and the banishment of religion to the private sector did the Western world become a nive place to live. Theocracies are the worst placesto live in.