Justice, Saudi style

[Unholy Cow]

From the same country that executed those poor homosexual boys for being...well, homosexual, yes? Or am I thinking of some other horribly cruel country?

I'm pretty sure I saw this happen (on the news) in Iran, I definately recall some nooses being put around young homosexuals' necks. Barbaric. And then there was that guy that they wanted to put to death or something in Afghanistan because he wanted to convert from Islam to Christianity

In my view, organised religion has done nothing but evil in the world. I believe that faith - in God, in Christ, in Mohammed or whatever is good, but the hatred spouting from the Churches and Mosques, resulting in injustices like this, is unbelieveable. I do acknowledge and respect the views of others opposing mine on this issue, but this is my quite strong opinion.

 

[Winner]

In my view, organised religion has done nothing but evil in the world. I believe that faith - in God, in Christ, in Mohammed or whatever is good, but the hatred spouting from the Churches and Mosques, resulting in injustices like this, is unbelieveable. I do acknowledge and respect the views of others opposing mine on this issue, but this is my quite strong opinion.

Again the politically correct mixing of Christianity and Islam?

I don't know what your local Christians do, but ours just talk about peace, love, you know, the pacifist stuff. I've never heard a single priest here calling for violence, much less for a Holy war.

In Islam, it is perfectly normal that priests encourage violence. It is a violent religion, it has always been like that and it will remain so for a long time.

 

[Eran of Arcadia]

Well, the only imams I ever met personally have condemned violence and openly spoke of the importance of understanding and love with other faiths. Islam is just too diverse and large for any blanket statements to be meaningful.

 

[cybrxkhan]

I don't know what your local Christians do, but ours just talk about peace, love, you know, the pacifist stuff. I've never heard a single priest here calling for violence, much less for a Holy war.

- Crusades
- Inquisition
- European Imperialism (not as violent, but...)

 

[Eran of Arcadia]

It is all well and good to point out that these things happened, but it doesn't mean that Christian leaders are calling for it now.

Also, Christianity was not primarily responsible for European imperialism.

 

[cybrxkhan]

^well, yes, i know, but I was just trying to say that Christians for a lot of their history weren't that nice either. Chrsitianity played an integral role for European imperialism, even if it wasn't a direct cause - it gave many of them a good excuse to take over people.

 

[Commodore]

It is all well and good to point out that these things happened, but it doesn't mean that Christian leaders are calling for it now.

Also, Christianity was not primarily responsible for European imperialism.

But while Christian leaders do not call for violence against non-believers (at least not in the mainstream), they do seem to cause harm to society in other ways. For example. some might see Christianity's stances on homosexuality, science, and abortion (although that's an iffy one) as a hinderence to progress should those beliefs gain any kind of momentum.

Granted, all other religions have almost the exact same stances on those issues as Christianity, but that only gives creedence to the claim that religion in general causes more harm than good.

 

[Eran of Arcadia]

There is a difference between causing social harm in the eyes of some for your stance on an issue, and actively causing for violence.

Which, as I said, most Muslims aren't doing either.

 

[Commodore]

There is a difference between causing social harm in the eyes of some for your stance on an issue, and actively causing for violence.

Which, as I said, most Muslims aren't doing either.

As much as the following question is going to sound like a troll, please try to believe that it is not.

So, do you think that standing in the way of scientific progress (which religions have done, and continue to do) is not harmful to society as a whole?

As i said, I understand that Christians (and Muslims in the West for that matter) haven't called for holy war anytime recently, but there are more ways to harm civilization than just violence. Hell, violence really isn't even the worst transgression against humanity one can commit.

 

[Eran of Arcadia]

Well, of course, not all Christians are standing in the way of scientific progress. Also, what one person might calls scientific progress is not therefore necessarily good. Science is one thing, but I think a lot of people never make the least effort to understand why some people are opposed to abortion (for example).

To answer your question directly, "standing in the way of scientific progress" often has negative consequences, certainly.