Starkey does it again

[SupremeSpod]

I think that all religion should be banned, it causes and has caused more death, destruction, pain & suffering than a Nuclear holocaust would.

Yeah! Kill 'em all, let God sort 'em out! Ooops!

[d000hg]

I think that all religion should be banned, it causes and has caused more death, destruction, pain & suffering than a Nuclear holocaust would.

No, people using religion as their excuse has. You only have to look at China and Russia for examples of how evil people will happily latch onto non-religious motivations with equally horrific results. In fact those countries did ban/suppress religion didn't they?

[AtW]

In fact those countries did ban/suppress religion didn't they?

No, they just replaced one religion with another.

HTH

[vetran]

It seems that certain Classes / cultures / religions commit certain types of crimes more frequently.

White burglars.
Black muggers.
Eastern European ATM thieves.
Pakistani Peado ring bosses.

Surely we are all products of our environments and culture? Hawking Phlegm in public for instance is considered unpleasant in the UK but perfectly common and accepted in other cultures.

If a culture puts little respect on women and even less on Infidels then its easier to dehumanise people you want to abuse. Its straight out the NAZI playbook, dehumanise, Debase & Destroy.

[Diver]

No, people using religion as their excuse has. You only have to look at China and Russia for examples of how evil people will happily latch onto non-religious motivations with equally horrific results. In fact those countries did ban/suppress religion didn't they?

You are perfectly correct.

I say we we bring in the death penalty for anybody that through deliberate action or inaction allows harm to come to another person.

Do you see what I did there?

[xoggoth]

Agree with d0000000000000000000gh on that. Religion only "caused" all the wars and conflicts pre 17th century because it was always dragged in as a justification. Since then, we have the Napoleonic wars, WW1, WW2, Korea, Vietnam, to name but a few, plus all the 100s of million killed by Stalin, Mau Zedong, Pol Pot etc. No religion involved.

[Doggy Styles]

Agree with d0000000000000000000gh on that. Religion only "caused" all the wars and conflicts pre 17th century because it was always dragged in as a justification. Since then, we have the Napoleonic wars, WW1, WW2, Korea, Vietnam, to name but a few, plus all the 100s of million killed by Stalin, Mau Zedong, Pol Pot etc. No religion involved.

Yes, good point. Blaming religion for badness done in its name is only a step or two from blaming life itself.

[xoggoth]

PS Although religion can be blamed in a way as it allows people to be manipulated. Religion is worse than other creeds like Marxism because it is not subject to any rational challenge and evolution is very slow, we have to wait for the scholars to "reinterpret" what god was supposed to mean.

Since there are no "out there" factors we are more able to judge political beliefs on facts, like the reality that communism in practice delivered corruption, repression and poor economic performance. Communism is dying after only a hundred years but we have been stuck with the religions of the book for thousands.

Coincidence? I don't think so.

[EternalOptimist]

Of course there have been religious wars. There have been imperial wars, wars of survival, wars for greed, dogma, resources, accidental wars, drug wars, ideological wars.
There was even a war once over some blokes ear

Religion is an idea, loads of ideas have caused wars, I wouldn't single religion out particularly

[vetran]

oh I think religion factored in a lot of pre 1800's wars, post then it seemed mostly about profit.