Infinity11: I understand how you would have experience in the fight between muslims and christian orthodox.

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"Babies haven't any hair;
old men's heads are just as bare;
between the cradle and the grave
lies a haircut and a shave."

Religion is still a focal point in peoples lives in the East,so although we may not agree with what they do, we need to understand that the west was also once like that and probably still would be without this system of laws.

We use our 'evolved' sensibilities to judge them, something that they yet do not possess. They need to change themselves because the more we criticise, the more ammunition it gives to groups like the Taliban who want to preserve their 'culture' from Western influence. They'll change, it'll take time, but we can't interfere lest we make the situation worse.

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The Worlds Ten Greatest 'Fucks' #10

Where's all that fucking water coming from? - Captain of Titanic

quote:

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Excuse me, but Christianity and other incarnations of the god of Judaism do not constitute all religions. Saying that about all religions is itself an ignorant thing to do.

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I would point out that several religions do good work. Let us not forget the sterling example of Harold Bishop, Ramsey Street's resident Jelly Belly.

In fact, along those same lines, religion has corrupted the idea of doing good deeds. I've heard people say that, if it weren't for fear of a god, they wouldn't give a shit about anyone else. The only thing shaping their morality is their religion. To me, that's a very bad thing. Religion has accustomed people to the idea of "I should act this way because [insert deity here] says I should". The idea of "I should act this way because it's right, and beneficial to the good of humanity" is a totally foreign concept to too many people.

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The Worlds Ten Greatest 'Fucks' #10

Where's all that fucking water coming from? - Captain of Titanic

Christians would be stoning women for appearing in pornographic movies.

Um... no. You've never read the Bible, have you? Do. The Gospels, at the very least. There was a story where a married woman was caught in flagrante delicto (hope I spelled that right) with another man, and some dudes wanted to stone her. Jesus stopped them. Why would we stone a woman for something like this? It's not in our philosophy. More importantly, why would you think that we would? You speak without knowledge, and that helps give us Christians a bad name.

i11:

Okay, a point on religion..
It sucks, in all forms...

Your opinion is noted and logged. Care to explain how it relates to the fact that there never would have been a renaissance without some monks protecting ancient scrolls?

If someone were to ask God, he'd agree with me, it sucks....

And people call me arrogant...

It's not God's word, it's the word of some schmoe from way back when that felt like writing a book...

Except that that's in contravention of all evidence. Heck, even Rob knows better than to propose that it was all written by a solitary human.

Tim:

charitable work carried out by religious groups is good, but that's because charitable work carried out by anyone is good.

Even the government? It steals money from productive people, then gives it to others with no regard to whether they deserve it or not. And they do it inefficiently, at that.

Just because people do good things in the name of religion, that doesn't make the religion itself good.

It does if they wouldn't be doing the good deed without the religion. Don't you realize that all semblance of morality would have disintegrated long ago without religion?

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"How do you define fool?"
"I don't attempt it. I wait for demonstrations. They inevitably surpass my imagination."
- CJ Cherryh, Invader

I don't know, why would you burn women at the stake for practicing witchraft?

Or frag heretics?

Or participate in wars at all?

Remember that you don't speak for all of you, as history clearly demonstrates.

quote:

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Even the government? It steals money from productive people, then gives it to others with no regard to whether they deserve it or not. And they do it inefficiently, at that.

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So. . . any charity is therefore bad? And what's this stealing? It's called "taxation." We may not like it but it's necessary. And I don't like the sound of this "deserving" clause you've worked in, after all, you're not the most tolerant of people, Omeychops. I'd hate to be in some sort of trouble yet have to try to qualify by your standards as "deserving" charity.

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"If Morden is afraid of green penguins, and Draal is shown to have
access to them, a speculation would be that Draal will use them
against Morden in the future. However if Draal only has a purple
moose, saying that he could use it against Morden would be a story
idea."

- rastb5m FAQ

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Wes Button � [email protected]
TechFX Studios � The United Federation Uplink �
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I don't like Wesley Crusher.

Organized religions are a pain in the ass. Why can't (insert religious affiliation here) followers simply follow their faith - NOT tell us about it, and live in the serene hope of their eternal reward? And meanwhile let us apostate agnostics worry about real life - not their bearded version of the Easter Bunny.

Talking about one's faith in (insert diety here) is like talking about the quality of your morning's BM. (We're glad for him - but we don't want to hear about it).