Reading the thread about the worst disasters in the history of the universe, I had the
idea to focus a bit more narrowly on a related issue: what people have, through their
own ignorance and extremism, done the most harm to their own cause? The obvious
candidate would have to be Hitler: his Final Solution not only relegated National
Socialism to the scrapheap of history, but it also resulted in the formation of the
Jewish state of Israel (if anything that would cause him to roll over in whatever
grave he might have had).
Assuming his followers are right about how Jesus was all about peace and love thy neighbor, Jesus. Christianity, especially historically, has been incredibly brutal, hateful and murderous. If he really wanted to promote peace and love, founding Christianity has been a major blow against that.
PETA.
Most sane people, even people who are concerned about the ethical treatment of animals, view PETA members as crazy zealots.
She wasn’t nearly in the same crazy league as Hitler (hell, or even PETA, in my opinion) but Madalyn O’Hair certainly put off a lot of people with her abrasiveness and general unlikability. I can’t help but wonder if many people associate her with atheism so strongly that she might have contributed, in some small way, to the hostile reactions that a number of atheist/agnostic board members mentioned in the atheism threads we had a little while back.
Timothy Treadwell (of Grizzly Man notoriety) did much more harm than good to the grizzly bears he claimed to be so concerned about. If anyone ever deserved to be eaten by a bear,* it was this guy.
*If anyone thinks that’s harsh, try watching any portion of the documentary about him, and you’ll see exactly what I mean.
I’d say, unfortunately. George W. Bush. He really did a lot to ruin the Neocon agenda. Although I suppose the agenda itself is what led to its demise (Iraq was always a part of the plan) I feel that the agenda isn’t bad on principle, only impossible to implement. The handling of the Iraq war has really made the nation realize that wars of choice are best left un-pursued. The idea of reshaping the East in a form that is acceptable to us doesn’t seem doable now.
Jesus didn’t found Christianity: some of his followers did.
Treadwell was crazier than a loon on acid. Ironically (or perhaps appropriately, depending on your point of view) he actually thought being killed and eaten by a bear would be his preferred method of exiting this world.
However, I’m not sure that Treadwell himself should be credited so much with the notoriety on this topic as director Werner Herzog. Treadwell’s experience demonstrated that grizzly bears are not generally aggressive toward people, even people who are completely around the bend and are invading their natural habitat in a signficant and intrusive way. Herzog, however, presents his subject and topic as “Man vs. Merciless Nature”, even commenting that “…in all the faces of all the bears that Treadwell ever filmed, I discover no kinship, no understanding, no mercy. I see only the overwhelming indifference of nature.” Herzog himself isn’t exactly the guy you want to sit next to on a long flight; this is the guy who made a film about an insane zealot hauling a steamboat over mountainous terrain by building a steamboat and hauling it over mountainous terrain.
I don’t know that it’s the all-time kicker but Presidential candidate Gary Hart pretty much undermined his credibility regarding accusations of his womanizing by inviting the media to “Follow me around. I don’t care. I’m serious. If anybody wants to put a tail on me, go ahead. They’ll be very bored,” then getting caught with Donna Rice sitting on his lap on The Monkey Business. It’s a shame, because in other ways Hart did then and has since demonstrated intelligence and sharp political acumen, and would have been a better candidate for the DNC than anyone else they’ve fielded in decades.
Stranger
Yasser Arafat. Can you think of a stupider act to promote your cause than kidnapping and later killing athletes at an event dedicated to peace among nations? Then starting a string of terrorist acts targeting women and children. I think the palestinians have a good case, but their tactics turn me off completely.
Imagine they had instead used Gandhi/MLK tactics to bring attention to their cause and seize the moral highground.
Anita Bryant did more for homosexual causes that even she could have imaged.
The anti-abortion fanatics. When “pro-life” people start killing, it really negates their message. As Andy Rooney said “I don’t know if I’m pro-choice or pro-life. But I do know I like pro-choice people better than pro-life people.”
The 9/11 hijackers didn’t endure anyone to whatever it was they had planned to accomplish.
Cindy Sheehan seems to have disappeared lately. Whether she went willingly or was pushed, I don’t know.
I’d give my left nut to get seated next to Herzog on a transcontinental flight; there’s nothing I’d love more than to pick his brain for a few hours. YMMV, obviously. 
I very much doubt that. People have been brutal throughout history. Besides which, Jesus also preached forgiveness.
'Cept to moneylenders. He seems to have had a pretty vengeful attitude about them.
Stranger
The leaders of the Confederate States of America. They seceded from the Union in order to defend slavery and white supremacy from the threat posed by the Republican Party; they wound up setting in motion a chain of events which led to the unconditional, uncompensated, total abolition of slavery throughout the United States within five years, and the (at least de jure) enshrining in the U.S. Constitution of equal civil and political rights for blacks within ten years. (Of course they made a come-back with Jim Crow, but the 14th and 15th Amendments were still there, waiting for the Civil Rights Movement to come along and see to it they got enforced.)
The FLQ (Front de libération du Québec), which single-handedly convinced Quebec that militant separatism could not ever be a viable option (and arguably weakened the separatist movement in its entirety).
I’ve heard a theory that Robert E. Lee, in particular, hurt the South. The theory goes that if the South hadn’t had such good generals, the war wouldn’t have gone on as long, there wouldn’t have been as much destruction of infrastructure in the South, and the US government would have been less vengeful toward the former Confederates when the war was over.
There’s a theory, which I like, that Jesus was trying to reform Judaism rather than found a new religion. What his followers made of his teachings was certainly not helpful to Judaism in the two millennia that followed…
16 posts and no one has mentioned Tom Cruise and Scientology? Then again, L. Ron did much more to discredit his own religion, without having to jump on a couch. Tom has really footbulleted his religion. (But on the bright side, they think he’s their jesus or somesuch now)
Phyllis Schafly (a woman) was one of the most vehement protesters of the Equal Rights Amendment, which was not passed, one of the arguments was that it would allow homosexuals to marry. Ironically, women are still screwed constitutionally, and yet, homosexual will probably be allowed to marry before women will be guaranteed equality. It also turned the word “feminist” into a dirty word.
No one’s mentioned the Phelps gang yet?
Seriously, they almost make me pro-war because I don’t want to be associated with them.
~Tasha
So ? It’s not like all belief systems produce the same level of bad behavior. People would have been brutal with or without Christianity; Christianity simply made them much more brutal than they would otherwise have been IMHO.
Which makes him that much more of a failure. “Forgiving” is not a word I would associate with Christian behavior.