I really don’t think I could. Nor should I, for that matter.
Thus, I am confused as to why this thread was moved to Great Debates. Ain’t nothing great there to debate. It’s essentially a rant against religious people. Rants go in the Pit. Where ranters can be insulted, should such be merited.
The thread was started about an hour ago and I wasn’t aware of it until a few minutes ago. It’s been moved to the Pit. You have to be patient with us sometimes, Oakminster - we don’t see everything that happens here, particularly if people don’t report it. And we’re not always online when they do. I thought about locking that thread because mutantmoose had a similar one already active in GD, but I decided to send it BBQ-ward.
This liberal says “go for it!” Let’s see if there’s a double standard. The worst that could happen is a warning for you, and proof that a double standard does indeed exist on the Dope.
Actually they both raise slightly different questions. One is “religion hasn’t done anything for us” and the other is “what would the world be like if you removed all the religious people?”
The only things they have in common is that they both concern religion and they were both started by me. But GD/Pit whatever - I don’t mind.
And to me both translate into “I wanna make an anti-religious rant.” Which Der Trihs has the GD copyright on. But I’d be interested in grasping the difference you see, other than the basic semantic one of “benefits, or lack thereof, we have gained from religion” vs. “benefits, or lack thereof, from removing forcibly all practitioners of religion.”
So all anti-religious threads are, by definition, a rant? Interesting.
The difference is that one is asking what benefits there would be if religion had never existed and the other is asking what benefits there would be if religion suddenly ceased to exist.
They are slightly different (although I admit similar) in that in the second scenario we have seen what religion has to offer and decided to execute all the adherents in order to remove it.
That’s a remarkably ugly scenario, though. I’ve no love for religion - but you can’t really expect to be cool with a thread which boils down to, “hey, how 'bout a genocide?”
You can call it a delightful romantic comedy or a chocolate covered orgasm if you want, but you’re conducting a thought experiment about/joking about/jerking off to/ genocide. It’s not much different from a thread about executing all Jews or Muslims. Call it what it is.
I think it is taking an outrageous position that the OP does not sincerely hold, for the purpose of stirring things up. I do not approve of such conduct, but if it is done in the pit, then those that disagree can respond as they may deem appropriate.