# 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:** 5
**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, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/81 "2010-11-01T17:07:14Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > > [@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. My point was that all religions, which are not theoretical entities but instead are assemblies of people, have done good and done evil. ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/82 "2010-11-01T17:16:28Z")
Well, nobody in Salem got burned, actually. They were hanged except for one man who was “pressed” to death between heavy stones. And, as a former worker of the MA State Government, I must point out that the Witch Trials are regarded by everyone as a hideous travesty and even were soon after they happened. Read the entry for the large mural [1697 - The Repentance of Samuel Sewall](http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=mg2terminal&L=5&L0=Home&L1=State+Government&L2=About+Massachusetts&L3=Interactive+State+House&L4=Key+Events&sid=massgov2&b=terminalcontent&f=interactive_statehouse_state_house_murals&csid=massgov2). [Here’s](http://www2.iath.virginia.edu/salem/images/people/sewallmural.jpg) a clearer image. I was also taught in Catholic school that the Crusades were a bad thing and unjustified adventures that had more to do with money than religion. Doesn’t that count? ---
**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, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/83 "2010-11-01T17:30:21Z")
> [@Mehitabel](#): > > I was also taught in Catholic school that the Crusades were a bad thing and unjustified adventures that had more to do with money than religion. Doesn’t that count? Count as what? All religions, at their core, are about money and/or power. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/84 "2010-11-01T17:35:27Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > 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. E.g., by killing all their first-born? ---
**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, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/85 "2010-11-01T22:10:36Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > E.g., by killing all their first-born? No by causing repentance for their actions through genuine remorse. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2010, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/86 "2010-11-01T22:15:06Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > No by causing repentance for their actions through genuine remorse. Ah, so he used mind control. How admirable. ---
**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 2, 2010, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/87 "2010-11-02T00:00:24Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Ah, so he used mind control. How admirable. So if you made someone see the wrongness of their actions, is it mind control? ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/88 "2010-11-02T00:46:09Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > And I condemn **all** fanatics without exception to ideology. Are we to take it that you are filled with self loathing? ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/89 "2010-11-02T00:59:52Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > I can’t see what’s wrong with old-fashioned spelling (I enjoy imitating HPL’s writing style) and some of them are easier to pronounce (ie Calcutta for Kolkata). This isn’t fiction where you’re trying to create a mood. (I think.) Unless you’re trying to make a political point (such as continuing to refer to Myanmar as Burma (as I do)), or make a religious point (such as referring to God as G-d (which I don’t)), this merely makes you appear uneducated and ignorant. ---
**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 2, 2010, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/90 "2010-11-02T01:05:34Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > Are we to take it that you are filled with self loathing? I am not a fanatic in the sense of being a violent zealot who believes in the end justfiying the means. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/91 "2010-11-02T01:07:05Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > Which of course must be true of all Christian sects from reactionary ultra-Catholics to liberal, relativist Episcopalians. :rolleyes: The liberal churches of the USA are actually politically more liberal than the Democratic Party (they support Afghan withdrawal, gay marriage etc.) so shouldn’t you encourage them? This, IMHO, is one of the more moronic statements I’ve seen on the SD. ---
**Author:** ![supergalactic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@supergalactic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/supergalactic)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/92 "2010-11-02T01:28:39Z")
Wicca. But, those fat emo chicks need SOMETHING to do after their poetry fails, right? ---
**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 2, 2010, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/93 "2010-11-02T01:29:13Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > This, IMHO, is one of the more moronic statements I’ve seen on the SD. Its the truth so how is it moronic? ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/94 "2010-11-02T01:59:50Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > Its the truth so how is it moronic? You’re the guy who knows everything so figure it out for yourself. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/95 "2010-11-02T02:23:59Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > I am not a fanatic in the sense of being a violent zealot who believes in the end justfiying the means. You attached no caveats to your claim and now you do. Convenient. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/96 "2010-11-02T02:45:35Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > So if you made someone see the wrongness of their actions, is it mind control? If you magically reach inside his head and screw with his mind to do it, of course it is. By definition. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/97 "2010-11-02T03:00:59Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > I am not a fanatic in the sense of being a violent zealot who believes in the end justfiying the means. If you had any real power, I think your self righteousnous would have you going down that path lickety split. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/98 "2010-11-02T10:56:32Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > You’re the guy who knows everything so figure it out for yourself. This wasn’t a good answer. A better answer to your assertion of “its the truth” is simply that it isn’t the truth at all. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/99 "2010-11-02T11:05:57Z")
If it ends in -ism I am against it. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/100 "2010-11-02T11:27:46Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > If it ends in -ism I am against it. You subscribe to negativism. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820.md?page=6)