# A species will be judged by how it treats its most vulnerable constituents **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 16, 2016, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-species-will-be-judged-by-how-it-treats-its-most-vulnerable-constituents/766077 "2016-09-16T11:40:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-species-will-be-judged-by-how-it-treats-its-most-vulnerable-constituents/766077/21 "2016-09-16T18:10:09Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > Clams are stupid. There, I said it. And [Owls are assholes](http://www.theonion.com/graphic/owls-are-assholes-9307) ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-species-will-be-judged-by-how-it-treats-its-most-vulnerable-constituents/766077/22 "2016-09-16T19:03:28Z")
> [@Human\_Action](#): > > So what are you proposing, that children should be taken from their parents at birth and raised by the state? Criminal penalties for religious instruction? Give us something tangible to work with here. Apparently religion=bad, child sex=good. Or something. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-species-will-be-judged-by-how-it-treats-its-most-vulnerable-constituents/766077/23 "2016-09-16T19:28:56Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Apparently religion=bad, child sex=good. Or something. But where does that leave kiddy-diddling priests? ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-species-will-be-judged-by-how-it-treats-its-most-vulnerable-constituents/766077/24 "2016-09-16T19:35:03Z")
Lemmings have far too high an opinion of their own cleverness. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-species-will-be-judged-by-how-it-treats-its-most-vulnerable-constituents/766077/25 "2016-09-16T20:13:16Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > Clams are stupid. There, I said it. Clams got legs! ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-species-will-be-judged-by-how-it-treats-its-most-vulnerable-constituents/766077/26 "2016-09-16T20:45:54Z")
[Coral](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coral)! Fucking Coral! Actually, ecumenically speaking, coral ain’t that bad. We have a winner? ---
**Author:** ![xenophon41](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xenophon41/32/253_2.png) [@xenophon41](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xenophon41)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-species-will-be-judged-by-how-it-treats-its-most-vulnerable-constituents/766077/27 "2016-09-16T21:14:24Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > Clams are stupid. There, I said it. > [@MrDibble](#): > > Clams got legs! Y’know, Indians [never ate clams…](http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/arloguthrie/thestoryofreubenclamzohisstrangedaughterinthekeyofa.html) True story. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-species-will-be-judged-by-how-it-treats-its-most-vulnerable-constituents/766077/28 "2016-09-16T21:21:50Z")
Not that hard to parse. All he’s saying is that religious indoctrination is worse than pedophilia with regards to inspiration for mass slaughter or war. I think.😕 ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-species-will-be-judged-by-how-it-treats-its-most-vulnerable-constituents/766077/29 "2016-09-16T21:22:14Z")
> [@](#): > > A species will be judged by how it treats its most vulnerable constituents Judge not, lest ye be judged…which might not be a good if you have a thing for young boys. Just sayin’… ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-species-will-be-judged-by-how-it-treats-its-most-vulnerable-constituents/766077/30 "2016-09-16T21:24:12Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Not that hard to parse. All he’s saying is that religious indoctrination is worse than pedophilia with regards to inspiration for mass slaughter or war. I think.😕 “Fuck A Child For Peace!” I don’t think that one’s gonna catch on. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-species-will-be-judged-by-how-it-treats-its-most-vulnerable-constituents/766077/31 "2016-09-16T21:31:02Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > “Fuck A Child For Peace!” > > I don’t think that one’s gonna catch on. Well that’s not what’s being said but people read as they wish. What’s being said is that as bad as pedophilia is it does far less harm to humanity as a whole than religious indoctrination. Whether you agree or disagree is a matter of opinion but at least comprehend what you read. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-species-will-be-judged-by-how-it-treats-its-most-vulnerable-constituents/766077/32 "2016-09-16T21:36:46Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Well that’s not what’s being said but people read as they wish. > > What’s being said is that as bad as pedophilia is it does far less harm to humanity as a whole than religious indoctrination. Whether you agree or disagree is a matter of opinion but at least comprehend what you read. You caveated the post he was quoting with ‘I think. 😕’… ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-species-will-be-judged-by-how-it-treats-its-most-vulnerable-constituents/766077/33 "2016-09-16T21:38:59Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Not that hard to parse. All he’s saying is that religious indoctrination is worse than pedophilia with regards to inspiration for mass slaughter or war. I think.😕 Which, we may observe, is a thought you managed to communicate in 15 commonly used words. And probably could elaborate upon effectively in a fraction of the space he used. ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-species-will-be-judged-by-how-it-treats-its-most-vulnerable-constituents/766077/34 "2016-09-16T21:56:20Z")
> [@XT](#): > > You caveated the post he was quoting with ‘I think. 😕’… I wasn’t 100% confident. It was a verbose post. What I find interesting is how stuff like that is interpreted by others. Immediately, maybe jokingly maybe not, folks presumed he was advocating something instead of using it as a basis of comparison. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-species-will-be-judged-by-how-it-treats-its-most-vulnerable-constituents/766077/35 "2016-09-16T22:14:31Z")
Ah. I think you’re right **Octopus**. After I tried to read it, I first understood him to mean that children should be raised militantly, and trained to protect themselves and kill their abusers. On re-read, I can see your interpretation: that children should not be subject to religious indoctrination. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-species-will-be-judged-by-how-it-treats-its-most-vulnerable-constituents/766077/36 "2016-09-16T22:18:51Z")
> [@iLemming](#): > > To get off on the right footing, I present, [Dave Allen.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qj6XAvuRn4Q) > > O how we preach of the sanctity of a child’s life: Form the contentions of the environment our progeny should best be reared in for optimum development – to forming all manner of protective parapets corralling our most precious assets whom upon we must entrust our Earth. > > Yet, every second of every day, in every corner of this greed girt, war wrought world, billions subject the fragile fruits of their loins, while in their most vulnerable, formative state, to the dastardly defilement of diabolical, dogmatic indoctrination – the noxious neurological cancer we euphemistically dub with morbid affectation, “religion”. > …snip… The tl;dr version: it is wrong to inflict religion on children. I agree with that. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-species-will-be-judged-by-how-it-treats-its-most-vulnerable-constituents/766077/37 "2016-09-16T22:59:38Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Great a analogy. And waaaaaay too much mayo! Pretty sure that’s Miracle Whip. ---
**Author:** ![Lucky\_Mike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Lucky\_Mike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_Mike)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-species-will-be-judged-by-how-it-treats-its-most-vulnerable-constituents/766077/38 "2016-09-16T23:20:52Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > So, you want to have sex with little boys, is what I got from that. Okay…how bout no? That and he likes the overuse of alliteration and falsely believes he is an eloquent writer because he can use a Thesaurus. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2016, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-species-will-be-judged-by-how-it-treats-its-most-vulnerable-constituents/766077/39 "2016-09-16T23:30:11Z")
> [@octopus](#): > > Not that hard to parse. All he’s saying is that religious indoctrination is worse than pedophilia with regards to inspiration for mass slaughter or war. I think.😕 Um, thanks. I didn’t make it very far into that wall-o-text. But, if that’s what he means to say, what does it have to do with the thread title? ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2016, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-species-will-be-judged-by-how-it-treats-its-most-vulnerable-constituents/766077/40 "2016-09-17T00:00:53Z")
Given that the OP seems to be writing off religion, just who is supposed to be doin’ the judgin’, anyhow? I mean, if it’s just a pack of squirrels, or a bowl of goldfish, that is seriously not on. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-species-will-be-judged-by-how-it-treats-its-most-vulnerable-constituents/766077.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-species-will-be-judged-by-how-it-treats-its-most-vulnerable-constituents/766077.md?page=3)