Bill Maher called an Islamophobe for acknowledging reality

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

People are people, and will use whatever they can get their hands on as excuses for furthering their own ideological agendas. Religion is a useful weapon for exercising said power. That doesn't mean that Christian, Muslim, Jewish, etc... beliefs are inherently wrong. People who think that the practice of religion necessarily is oppressive, violent, or on-par with the KKK are as stupid as the people who think there's a dude in the sky with a killer beard looking after you.

Religion is neither good nor bad in-itself. It's a tool. That tool can be used for good (see, Mother Theresa) or bad (Spanish Inquisition). What's "made" with that tool has very little to do with the belief system and a whole lot to do with the ideology of the person wielding it.

1) the kkk was a Christian organization, so I don't have to think its on par. People in the kkk was practicing Christianity.

2) mother Teresa was an evil woman who had a fetish for watching humans suffer. She used religion as the reason why she didn't give the people in her hospitals pain killers because she said it brought them closer to god. I'd hardly call her a good example of religion. She also used religion as why Charles keating should be let off the hook for stealing millions in a Ponzi scheme.

[LnGrrrR]

the question of evil is tough. He created man and Satan, so I can't argue he didn't create the capacity for evil to exist. I wish I knew it all, but my faith is strong.

Why are you trying to dance around the fact that God created evil? He didn't create "the capacity", he created it. If God created everything, then "evil" falls under that blanket. I'm sorry that bugs you, but it should be pretty obvious.

[DarrinS]

that's the clearest case of Islamophobia I've seen in a while

Should I have used blue text?

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

That's fine. But it's not as if those beliefs were held exclusively by Christians.

They were perpetuated by Christians who threatened scientists for questioning them.

[2centsworth]

But you're not God. If God tells you to tell me to feed a homeless person, I can say that you don't know the will of God, because you're not on his level, correct? Have you ever spoken directly with God?

That was not the hypothetical given. It was
"God makes the rules (definitive) and says a sacrifice is necessary (definitive). A sacrifice is not required (illogical). "

[Blake]

the question of evil is tough. He created man and Satan, so I can't argue he didn't create the capacity for evil to exist. I wish I knew it all, but my faith is strong.

plenty of completely illogical tendencies that God has.

When you get to heaven, be sure to ask why murderers, rapists and child molesters are there too.

[DarrinS]

They were perpetuated by Christians who threatened scientists for questioning them.

Do you think this would happen in 2013?

[2centsworth]

Why are you trying to dance around the fact that God created evil? He didn't create "the capacity", he created it. If God created everything, then "evil" falls under that blanket. I'm sorry that bugs you, but it should be pretty obvious.

how does God create Rape?

[vy65]

1) the kkk was a Christian organization, so I don't have to think its on par. People in the kkk was practicing Christianity.

You're making my point. Yes, the KKK was a certain type of Christian organization. But you cannot equivocate the KKK to Christianity writ large. What do you make of the fact that the KKK was anti-Catholic? That seems like a thorny issue for equating the KKK with Christian beliefs.

2) mother Teresa was an evil woman who had a fetish for watching humans suffer. She used religion as the reason why she didn't give the people in her hospitals pain killers because she said it brought them closer to god. I'd hardly call her a good example of religion. She also used religion as why Charles keating should be let off the hook for stealing millions in a Ponzi scheme.

I didn't know that about the pain killers. That's a fair point. But is this a reason to say that what she did was bad? Would it have been better for her to not provide care at all?

Mother Teresa is just a tangent though -- are you saying that each and every expression of Christian belief is always evil/violent/bad etc....? That there is absolutely no good that can come about from Christian beliefs?

For example, what is the problem with this group: http://catholicsmobilizing.org/cacp/

[Blake]

That was not the hypothetical given. It was
"God makes the rules (definitive) and says a sacrifice is necessary (definitive). A sacrifice is not required (illogical). "

God is omnipotent (definitive).
God makes the rules (definitive).
God is love (definitive).
God will burn you forever if you don't believe in him (wait....wut).

[LnGrrrR]

That was not the hypothetical given. It was
"God makes the rules (definitive) and says a sacrifice is necessary (definitive). A sacrifice is not required (illogical). "

Hey, don't blame me because you came up with a poor analogy. You said that "You must be equal to God to know what is necessary". But you also said that if God told me directly, then I would know what is necessary. One of those two must be false.

As far as rape, if God created the people, and God created the situation, then I don't see why God didn't "create" the rape. Unless you want to say that God isn't responsible for "good" either?

[Blake]

how does God create Rape?

Did virgin Mary have a choice?

[Blake]

Should I have used blue text?

So you'd have told the Muslim kids to politely off?

[jag]

They were perpetuated by Christians who threatened scientists for questioning them.

If your reasoning for holding Christians to such a high standard is because of inaccurate science throughout history then so be it. But in doing so, you're ignoring the contributions to science by "Christians" (or those who believed in a Creator) such as Newton, Copernicus (who was responsible for the first mathematically based system of planets going around the sun), Bacon, Descartes, Kepler, Pascal, Boyle, Faraday, etc. I could go on and on, but I'm not exactly sure why any of that matters.

Also keep in mind, there are many types of "Christians." You'd be hard pressed to find a single thing I agree with the Catholic Church about.

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

You're making my point. Yes, the KKK was a certain type of Christian organization. But you cannot equivocate the KKK to Christianity writ large. What do you make of the fact that the KKK was anti-Catholic? That seems like a thorny issue for equating the KKK with Christian beliefs.



I didn't know that about the pain killers. That's a fair point. But is this a reason to say that what she did was bad? Would it have been better for her to not provide care at all?

For example, what is the problem with this group: http://catholicsmobilizing.org/cacp/

Mother Teresa is just a tangent though -- are you saying that each and every expression of Christian belief is always evil/violent/bad etc....? That there is absolutely no good that can come about from Christian beliefs?

I think the good that comes from religion is overwhelmingly outweighed by the bad that comes from it, especially in current times.

[Blake]

You're making my point. Yes, the KKK was a certain type of Christian organization. But you cannot equivocate the KKK to Christianity writ large. What do you make of the fact that the KKK was anti-Catholic? That seems like a thorny issue for equating the KKK with Christian beliefs.

Uh, you aren't familiar with Martin Luther's work?

[resistanze]

People are people, and will use whatever they can get their hands on as excuses for furthering their own ideological agendas. Religion is a useful weapon for exercising said power. That doesn't mean that Christian, Muslim, Jewish, etc... beliefs are inherently wrong. People who think that the practice of religion necessarily is oppressive, violent, or on-par with the KKK are as stupid as the people who think there's a dude in the sky with a killer beard looking after you.

Religion is neither good nor bad in-itself. It's a tool. That tool can be used for good (see, Mother Theresa) or bad (Spanish Inquisition). What's "made" with that tool has very little to do with the belief system and a whole lot to do with the ideology of the person wielding it.

To be honest, I agree with a lot of this. If religion didn't exist, I have no doubt they'd be something else blood-sucking parasites would be using to profit off the backs of others.

But as it stands, religion is the biggest tool in our world today. And people arguing about the details of one religion being more violent than the other to me is comical, especially if you follow a religion (Christianity) that's been used for the most heinous acts in human history.

[Blake]

If your reasoning for holding Christians to such a high standard is because of inaccurate science throughout history then so be it. But in doing so, you're ignoring the contributions to science by "Christians" (or those who believed in a Creator) such as Newton, Copernicus (who was responsible for the first mathematically based system of planets going around the sun), Bacon, Descartes, Kepler, Pascal, Boyle, Faraday, etc. I could go on and on, but I'm not exactly sure why any of that matters.

Also keep in mind, there are many types of "Christians." You'd be hard pressed to find a single thing I agree with the Catholic Church about.

Why are you disregarding the contributions to basketball by Hakeem?

[vy65]

I think the good that comes from religion is overwhelmingly outweighed by the bad that comes from it, especially in current times.

It's a tool used to encourage ignorance. And ignorance usually leads to all kinds of ill . I get and agree with that.

But, you seem to admit that some good can come from a christian belief system.

Which leads to the following point: the fact that some good can come out of a belief system responsible for a lot of bad leads me to believe the issue isn't so much with the belief system itself, but how people use it.

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

You're making my point. Yes, the KKK was a certain type of Christian organization. But you cannot equivocate the KKK to Christianity writ large. What do you make of the fact that the KKK was anti-Catholic? That seems like a thorny issue for equating the KKK with Christian beliefs.



I didn't know that about the pain killers. That's a fair point. But is this a reason to say that what she did was bad? Would it have been better for her to not provide care at all?

For example, what is the problem with this group: http://catholicsmobilizing.org/cacp/

Mother Teresa is just a tangent though -- are you saying that each and every expression of Christian belief is always evil/violent/bad etc....? That there is absolutely no good that can come about from Christian beliefs?

I think the good that comes from religion is overwhelmingly outweighed by the bad that comes from it, especially in current times.

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

Idk why my phone just posted that again.

[LnGrrrR]

Idk why my phone just posted that again.

It's because of JESUS!

[DarrinS]

So you'd have told the Muslim kids to politely off?

Haven't had to. Evidently, they are not into door-to-door prosthelytizing.

[elbamba]

Fair enough. I should have been more specific in my initial request. I was referring more to Jesus ever asking believers to murder or hurt nonbelievers. Christian Salvation is through Jesus. That's more the direction I was headed. It's a very different ballgame to start pulling OT verses. That's not difficult to do.

Again, in the context of Christian faith, I don't see how anyone could ever compare the violence associated with it to that of Islam. Sure, call it a Mulligan, but at least they used their Mulligan. For the record, I don't blame a single person for questioning the Christian faith and their basic beliefs. Christians are the people most responsible for making people not want to be Christians.

While the Lord did not instruct to kill them there is a story of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts Chapter 5: 1 -10 where we must presume the Lord kills them for lying.

[DUNCANownsKOBE]

You're making my point. Yes, the KKK was a certain type of Christian organization. But you cannot equivocate the KKK to Christianity writ large. What do you make of the fact that the KKK was anti-Catholic? That seems like a thorny issue for equating the KKK with Christian beliefs.

I missed this part. Jesus Christ. I guess protestants shouldn't be equated with Christian beliefs either.