# What is the Most Detestable Religion or Sect **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 29, 2010, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820 "2010-10-29T21:25:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/61 "2010-10-31T14:53:05Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > You and the late Saddam Hussein are (were?) both religious. You might as well be Saddam. > > See the comparison? Nope. Saddam didn’t kill people because he was religious, he killed them because he was FANATICALLY religious. I might be religious, but I’m not a fanatic. Der Trihs is “religious” (I would say his brand of atheism is a religion" but more importantly, he’s fanatic. > [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > In other words, everyone who thinks that snow is cold and that anyone who denies it is an idiot is the moral equivalent of Stalin. No one has killed someone over believing snow is cold. People who are fanatic have. > [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > With respect, it’s a bad one. It’s like comparing somebody with a shaky grasp of sociology to the Unabomber. It kinda glosses over the Unabomber’s distinguishing characteristic, which involves making bombs. > > Besides, Stalin’s followers were fanatics: Stalin himself was a sociopath. Alright then, Der Trihs isn’t comparable to Stalin; rather, he’s compared to Stalin’s fanatic followers, who are just as detestable. > [@Broomstick](#): > > Those guys weren’t “fanatic”, they were mainstream Aztecs. In that case, Aztec (Aztec-land? Aztecia?) was one messed up place. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/62 "2010-10-31T15:06:58Z")
No, Saddam Hussein was not particularly religious, except when it served his purposes, in propaganda. There were alcoholic beverages in his personal quarters, & drinking booze it against the rules of the Islamic faith. He killed people because he ruled by terror, plain & simple. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/63 "2010-10-31T15:18:26Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > Nope. Saddam didn’t kill people because he was religious, he killed them because he was FANATICALLY religious. I might be religious, but I’m not a fanatic. Der Trihs is “religious” (I would say his brand of atheism is a religion" but more importantly, he’s fanatic. Ah, yes. The “atheism is just another religion” shtick. Let me guess, science is religion, too? And the point you seem to be making about Saddam is the same one I was. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/64 "2010-10-31T15:26:27Z")
> [@AClockworkMelon](#): > > Ah, yes. The “atheism is just another religion” shtick. Let me guess, science is religion, too? > > And the point you seem to be making about Saddam is the same one I was. Science? Depends. Some people follow science logically; others follow it in a way that is indeed similar to religion. But science itself is not a religion. Atheism itself isn’t always religion either, but Der Trihs’s version sure is. EDIT: Some people also follow religion logically. Others are fanatics. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/65 "2010-10-31T16:01:33Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > > [@Babale](#): > > > > Fanatic Aztecs killed people by tearing their hearts out, > > Those guys weren’t “fanatic”, they were mainstream Aztecs. I’ll bet that the one tearing the hearts out of people weren’t in fact “mainstream Aztecs” but instead the elite. I’ll bet that the majority of the Aztecs lived ordinary lives, grew crops, fed and educated their children, made love to their spouses, etc. Because as I remember from school, they had a fairly large community, and sustaining such a thing would require that most of them live ordinary lives. It’s possible that they chose the ones to lose their hearts from among those already convicted of crimes. And since Curtis seems to think that Protestants are better than everyone else, how does he explain that Protestants in the seventeenth and eighteenth century tortured and killed people they suspected of being witches. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/66 "2010-10-31T16:11:17Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > And since Curtis seems to think that Protestants are better than everyone else, how does he explain that Protestants in the seventeenth and eighteenth century tortured and killed people they suspected of being witches. Does [this](http://departments.kings.edu/womens_history/witch/werror.html#Church) help? “While Christianity clearly created the framework for the Witch Hunts, no single “Church” was to blame, and many secular governments hunted witches for essentially non-religious reasons.” ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/67 "2010-10-31T16:23:55Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > And I condemn **all** fanatics without exception to ideology. Careful with that petard, sonny boy. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/68 "2010-10-31T16:50:33Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I’ll bet that the one tearing the hearts out of people weren’t in fact “mainstream Aztecs” but instead the elite. I’ll bet that the majority of the Aztecs lived ordinary lives, grew crops, fed and educated their children, made love to their spouses, etc. Because as I remember from school, they had a fairly large community, and sustaining such a thing would require that most of them live ordinary lives. It’s possible that they chose the ones to lose their hearts from among those already convicted of crimes. Actually, they obtained most of their victims by waging unrelenting warfare on their neighbors. Some sacrifices were volunteers from the Aztecs. Some were criminals. But most were captured in warfare. Human sacrifice was central to the Aztec religion, some ceremonies resulting in the deaths of _thousands_ in an almost assembly-line slaughter. Sometimes, they’d also eat the remains of the human sacrifice as well. Then were the sacrifices to Huehueteotl which involved burning people almost to death, then taking them out of the fire to cut out their hearts. Child sacrifice to the rain god Tláloc, where the children going to their death were forced to cry as tears were an important part of the whole thing. As for human sacrifice being limited to just the elite - ALL males citizens were trained for warfare, and those who provided a captive, even just one, for human sacrifice were elevated above the common workers. So it’s pretty plain that while not every male was a successfully rising warrior the expectation was that all males would at least try to do this at some point in their lives. Then there were the private practices of self-torture and bloodletting practiced by just about everyone in Aztec society, with the bloody implements offered as sacrifices or used in private worship. Sorry, little hard for me to dismiss all that - clearly the whole society was in on the deal and in favor of it. I find human sacrifice and torture quite detestable, hence my vote for the Aztecs as worst offenders. To be fair, plenty of other meso-American groups went in for that sort of thing, but the Aztecs took it to the next level (or two). ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/69 "2010-10-31T17:23:40Z")
Even if you were an Aztec civilian who wasn’t “in on the deal” (i.e., you thought that human sacrifice was a bad idea) what could you have done about it? Do you imagine they could have stood there and objected? ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/70 "2010-10-31T18:05:04Z")
Well they could have _tried_. I mean, what’s the worst that could happen? Oh… right. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/71 "2010-10-31T18:10:48Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > In that case, Aztec (Aztec-land? Aztecia?) was one messed up place. The Aztec capital is now known as Mexico City, just in case you were wondering what happened to it. For all the current faults of Mexico, I do think the present nation represents an improvement over the Aztecs. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2010, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/72 "2010-10-31T23:02:45Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Even if you were an Aztec civilian who wasn’t “in on the deal” (i.e., you thought that human sacrifice was a bad idea) what could you have done about it? Do you imagine they could have stood there and objected? Why wouldn’t you be in on the deal? Without the sacrifices, the sun won’t rise, rain won’t come, plague will descend, the Aztec’s enemies would destroy them. What sort of monster would be against human sacrifice, knowing all that? ---
**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:** [October 31, 2010, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/73 "2010-10-31T23:38:20Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > Check membership numbers for the Episcopalian Church. No, YOU check it and post it. I’m not the one who made the claim. I’m not doing your work for you. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/74 "2010-11-01T00:59:17Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > No, YOU check it and post it. I’m not the one who made the claim. I’m not doing your work for you. Attendance is shrinking, as is attendance at most other mainline Christian churches, with the biggest decrease taking place between the 1960s-1970s. In 1965, it had 3,615,000 baptized members, and in 2001, 2,317,000 baptized members. There’s a good argument to be made, though, that it has a lot to do with the decline of the white birthrate, and the continuing move of African Americans away from the Episcopal church. There is, however, another popular theory that it has to do with the church’s move towards more liberal political and theological positions the growth of conservative evangelical churches. ---
**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:** [November 1, 2010, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/75 "2010-11-01T01:04:11Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > Attendance is shrinking, as is attendance at most other mainline Christian churches, with the biggest decrease taking place between the 1960s-1970s. In 1965, it had 3,615,000 baptized members, and in 2001, 2,317,000 baptized members. There’s a good argument to be made, though, that it has a lot to do with the decline of the white birthrate, and the continuing move of African Americans away from the Episcopal church. There is, however, another popular theory that it has to do with the church’s move towards more liberal political and theological positions the growth of conservative evangelical churches. Okay. (Note – it wasn’t that I didn’t believe anyone, I just wasn’t about to take **Qin** ’s word, considering his noted biases) ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/76 "2010-11-01T01:27:12Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > \*\*What is the Most Detestable Religion or Sect? > \*\* > > Take your pick. Religion is the single most harmful and damaging thing that humans have ever dreamed up to inflict on themselves. I came in to say this. They’re all disgusting and destructive, every damned one of them, including every flavor of Christianity, itself among the most odious. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/77 "2010-11-01T01:30:29Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > Attendance is shrinking, as is attendance at most other mainline Christian churches, with the biggest decrease taking place between the 1960s-1970s. In 1965, it had 3,615,000 baptized members, and in 2001, 2,317,000 baptized members. There’s a good argument to be made, though, that it has a lot to do with the decline of the white birthrate, and the continuing move of African Americans away from the Episcopal church. There is, however, another popular theory that it has to do with the church’s move towards more liberal political and theological positions the growth of conservative evangelical churches. That might be the reason. Or it might be that more and more people are atheists, agnostics or even if they do believe, they just don’t associate with any particular church. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/78 "2010-11-01T03:29:08Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > And why not? Is it off limits because it happens to be politically powerful in America, which is where most posters are? It’s amusing; the farther away or less powerful a religion is, the more “detestable” it becomes. Scientology is horrible and evil, but Christianity is at worst slightly misguided - _ **not because Scientology is actually worse, but just because it is less powerful.** _ I think their lack of representation at the NCAA level is the real reason they’re so “detestable.” ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/79 "2010-11-01T15:41:37Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > And since Curtis seems to think that Protestants are better than everyone else, how does he explain that Protestants in the seventeenth and eighteenth century tortured and killed people they suspected of being witches. That was evil and I agree that John Calvin sinned horribly when he had Michael Servetus burnt at the stake and so did the Puritans in the Salem Witch Trials. Hopefully God showed them the sinfulness of their actions. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/80 "2010-11-01T15:56:08Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > Check membership numbers for the Episcopalian Church. > > Have Presbyterians committed mass cultic suicide? Have Baptists practiced human sacrifice? Have Episocpalians forced children into perverted sexual practices? Have Methodists been founded by overzealous sci-fi writers who force congregants to cough up money to learn the truth? Well, the Episcopalians might leave their little kids alone, but the _Catholics,_ on the other hand … [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820.md?page=5)