377

Just saying, there are facets and lines from many religious texts generally say to do harm or to inflict punishment on those who are different, because to be different is to be bad, historically speaking.

A lot of non-religious ideologies do the same thing. Those things used to be written into the laws of a lot of countries. But people chose not to obey them any more. Just like a lot of religious people choose not to follow the outdated and barbaric rules of the religious scriptures. Whether mainstream religious people want to sidestep that fact is irrelevant, it's still part of that religion, or you can argue "Depends on the many of interpretations."

It comes down to what kind of person you are, not what religion (or no religion) you are following. If you want to be a evil piece of shit, you will be whether you are religious or not. And you don't need a verse to justify it. But a verse is just as good as any other excuse.

It's easy to blame religion for this. If we say it is the fault of religion, then we can segregate the problem to "all religious people" or "that religion specifically." But if we say it is the fault of human society, then no one is exempt.

A lot of religious people would agree with non-religious people on these points; however, non-religious people make it very hard to religious people to side with them. Especially when every point about the illogical nature of a particular doctrine comes with a condemnation of the entire religion itself. Religious people are forced into a position of defending their faith and siding with the fanatics who are the actual problem.

And since the minority of non-religious are never going to get anywhere without the help of the religious, they may want to rethink their strategy. Of course, remaining the downtrodden and oppressed minority has its philosophical appeal too, I guess.

The Quran specifically states that they must destroy the infidels. Whether mainstream Islam wants to sidestep that fact is irrelevant, it's still part of that religion and there are many interpretations. And yet, not all Muslims are going around killing infidels. Not even a minority of Muslims, but a fringe.

Talk about irrational. And I'm not talking about the religions.

There is a tendency for religious people to make the assumption that human civilization somehow revolves around the dictates of organized religion. There is also a tendency for non-religious people to lump all religion up into one big theological mishmash, neglecting to realize that if all religions were the same thing, then we wouldn't have so many claiming the real one in contrast with the others.

I'm religious. And yet I manage to put rationality and logic above all other things, including religion.

Religion never did a single thing wrong in all of human history. Humans did those things. Using religion as a reason or excuse. Using anything convenient as a reason or excuse. And if something good happens to a dogmatically religious person will thank God for it because they feel they are not worthy enough to take pride in their own accomplishments. Later, they will secretly get angry at God for taking all the credit for their talent, of course.

Fanaticism doesn't start with "I believe in God." It starts with, "You believe in MY God, or else." Fanaticism can also start with "Believe in my government or else," "believe in this ideology or else," "Do what everyone else is doing or else," or even "Don't ever do that again or else." Religion isn't the cause, it's a condition.

Religion is a justification of metaphysical ideology incipit. Metaphysical ideology comes in many shades, and people are just broken inside. Actually, since a lot of the leaders of these ideologies and religions don't really believe it themselves. Especially if it is just being used as a tool for manipulation and domination. Of course, it was still quite an effective tool in getting the people all riled up.

Is the weapon dangerous without the person who uses it? What drove the creation of the weapon in the first place? Someone gave it a purpose before it was even forged. The very first weapon, a stick or a rock, was just a stick or a rock until a primitive human thought to bash someone's head in with it. Aggression and wickedness comes from four sources: fear, ignorance, attachment, and ego. These can be applied to anything, not just religion. If religion had never been invented, we would still be oppressing killing each other for the sake of being right over one thing or another.

Is the weapon dangerous without the person who uses it? Maybe. The creator has the intent of making a weapon. It is made. The intent is what makes an action moral, not always the use. Do we make missiles like we make lollipops? Can I use a lollipop as a weapon? That's semantics. The creator of a weapon is still a user even if he doesn't pull the trigger himself. You can put an eye out with a lollipop if you had the will too, but there are more effective tools handy.

In order for something to be dangerous and fanatical, someone has to make it so, and their motivation can be whatever they choose. Case in point: Christianity. It could had been a philosophy of universal brotherly love. Or it could have been a tool for subjugating the weak and inspiring conquest. The church founders made their decision independent of what Christianity actually was.