[QUOTE=Fuji]
I’m not privy to the inner workings of another’s mind (hint: neither are you), but I can think of many reasons why someone would oppose the distribution of condoms in Africa. Perhaps they are ignorant as to the scope of the disaster. Perhaps they’re prudes who don’t like the idea of anyone having sex without procreation. Perhaps they just don’t like black people. And so on
[/quote]
Or perhaps they could be motivated by what they SAY motivates them, religion. But of course, anyone doing evil in religion’s name is a liar. :rolleyes:
Interesting that you are willing to consdier the Catholic Church a vast conspiracy of racists rather than admit that they are doing wrong in the name of religion.
[QUOTE=Fuji]
Could you please be more specific? Which conflicts are you referring?
[/quote]
Christian/Jew,Sunni/Shia, Protestant/Catholic come to mind. People who in many cases have no economic, national, personal or any other reason to fight than religion.
You, of course, will insist that they would fight anyway. Rather than admit that religion is the cause, you will call them liars about their motives, and implicitly accuse them of being some sort of mindless killer drones who kill without reason.
[QUOTE=Fuji]
I posed you these questions last night, and I’ve noticed that though you have replied to several other posts since then, you have ignored mine.
[/quote]
I answered, you didn’t like the answer.
[QUOTE=Fuji]
Do you stand by your statement: “People do evil and stupid things all the time in the name of religion that they’d NEVER do without religion, for the simple reason that there’s no other motivation to do them.”?
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Of course; it’s obvious.
[QUOTE=Fuji]
You offered one example of such behavior (condom distribution in Africa), which I feel I effectively counter-argued.
[/quote]
A rather pathetic counter argument.
[QUOTE=Fuji]
Do you have any other examples, or are you perhaps willing to concede that many harmful acts which perpetrators explicitly attribute to their religious convictions may have alternate motivational bases?
[/QUOTE]
I just gave other examples, not that I think you actually need them . You’d have to be outright brain damaged not to notice all the people slaughtering and oppressing each other in religions name. Not that there’s any evidence you would accept for that; I’m sure you’d never admit that ANY of the people who did evil deeds in the name of religion did so in religion’s name. But I’m sure you’d instantly give religion credit for any good done in it’s name.
And while no doubt some do falsely blame religion, many evil acts simply make no sense unless you assume a religious motivation. Why would someone kill a stranger, when doing so profits them in no way, and when there’s no other difference between them but religion ? Why would someone bother to force religious rules on people, save religion ? You are basically claiming that if religion was eliminated, people would robotically commit the same evils they do now in the name of religion, but that they wouldn’t even have that as a reason. That instead of Christians rounding up and killing Jews, they’d just grab some random people and kill them for no reason. That instead of imposing rules requiring prayer in the name of religion, they’d impose rules imposing prayer to nothing.
[QUOTE=Guinastasia]
Coming a bit late to the game, (and at the risk of being labeled a “me too”, which, if so, so be it.)
For those who seem to think, without religion, the world would be all hunky-dory, that religion is the main source of evil in this world, blah blah blah, please ask yourself the following:
What drives the mafia? Why did the US support so many dictators in Latin America? Why did the United Fruit Company, for that matter, exploit Latin America? What did Leopold II of Belgium do to the Congo, and why? Who was Smedley Butler? What was the School of the Americas?
And I invite you to read the following three books:
-King Leopold’s Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa, Adam Hochschild
-War Is a Racket, Smedly Darlington Butler
-Inevitable Revolutions: The United States in Central America, Walter Lafeber
What was the cause of the above? (hint-it wasn’t religion)
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Religion was the motivation for a lot of went on. We had to fight the godless Communists after all; and since they were godless, ANYTHING was justified.
And a lot of what religion wasn’t driving, it was excusing.
[QUOTE=Guinastasia]
(Because people are assholes, no matter what their motive)
[/QUOTE]
And again, demonizing humans in order to make religion look better.
If someone claims religion is the cause of evil, they are a wild eyed lunatic. If they claim good is done in religion’s name, they are perfectly reasonable. Typical religious double standard. Or are you going to argue that good done in it’s name was done for some other reason ? Or is it only evil that doesn’t count ?
