# 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:** 6
**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, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/101 "2010-11-02T12:08:40Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > If you had any real power, I think your self righteousnous would have you going down that path lickety split. He’s well on his way even now. ---
**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, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/102 "2010-11-02T12:25:54Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > You subscribe to negativism. No I’m against it. It has a big fat -ism at the end of it. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/103 "2010-11-02T12:42:52Z")
> [@Turpentine](#): > > Scientology’s a good suggestion for modern examples. That and Westboro Baptist Church… I thought of that too, but I’m not sure it counts as a religion, or even a cult. Westboro is really just a Patriarchal psycho lording control over his extended family, the sick shit they do is precisely to keep them isolated and under his thumb. Like a stampede there should be a minimum number of participants to call it a religion. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/104 "2010-11-02T14:42:51Z")
This > [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > I am not a fanatic in the sense of being a violent zealot who believes in the end justfiying the means. followed by this > [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > So if you made someone see the wrongness of their actions, is it mind control? makes the baby Aristotle cry. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/105 "2010-11-02T15:18:18Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > So if you made someone see the wrongness of their actions, is it mind control? It’s remarkable how many criminals “see the wrongness of their actions” when facing a judge and a long prison sentence. I suspect the threat of eternal hellfire is a similarly effective motivator to “repent.” ---
**Author:** ![dmatsch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3be4f8/32.png) [@dmatsch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dmatsch)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/106 "2010-11-02T19:25:25Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > which have literally called for men to be eviscerated alive, children to be burned in cages, or widows to immolate themselves on their husbands’ funeral pyres. All of which is in your Bible. ---
**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, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/107 "2010-11-02T23:04:28Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > If you had any real power, I think your self righteousnous would have you going down that path lickety split. I would try not to. Assuming I’m Chairman Cho and had power I would ban abortion for instance but not put to death abortionists. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2010, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/108 "2010-11-02T23:22:18Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > No I’m against it. It has a big fat -ism at the end of it. Jism? ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/109 "2010-11-03T00:22:32Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > I would try not to. Assuming I’m Chairman Cho and had power I would ban abortion for instance but not put to death abortionists. What disincentive would abortionists have to cease practicing their trade? Incidentally, what would give you the moral authority to ban abortions? ---
**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 3, 2010, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/110 "2010-11-03T00:40:13Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > What disincentive would abortionists have to cease practicing their trade? > > Incidentally, what would give you the moral authority to ban abortions? Jail, What gives the justice system the moral authority to ban murder? After all there are some people who don’t find murder immoral ---
**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 3, 2010, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/111 "2010-11-03T00:50:20Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > What gives the justice system the moral authority to ban murder? After all there are some people who don’t find murder immoral False analogy. The murdered very seldom approves of his or her murder. In abortion, there is only the woman’s opinion to take into consideration. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/112 "2010-11-03T00:52:53Z")
> [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](#): > > Jail, > > What gives the justice system the moral authority to ban murder? After all there are some people who don’t find murder immoral Name a society that does not condemn murder and I don’t mean societies to include religions who feel it is okay to kill people who don’t subscribe to their belief systems. If you can name such a society and provide a cite, I will be willing to learn. Will you? Let’s exclude societies that no longer exist, like Aztecs and their ilk; they are irrelevant today. You are equating abortion with murder as if it is a given that the one equals the other; not so. Many people, not some, do NOT equate abortion with murder; what gives you the right to impose your will on those who feel that abortion is NOT murder? Again, I’m willing to learn. Are you? My recently denuded gums are dealing me fits; I probably won’t be back until tomorrow, so give it some thought before replying. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2010, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/113 "2010-11-03T01:16:11Z")
> [@Maeglin](#): > > The debate is still ongoing. It is definitely not so simple as Roman slander. One of the main accounts comes from Diodorus Siculus, a crummy historian but definitely not a Roman apologist. [Here](http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0009177) is a recent article on the subject from an anthropological perspective. Ha. I got my ass roundly chewed about 6 years ago on a discussion list for putting forth the theory that newborns that died of natural causes may have been buried differently than ‘post baptism’ kids and adults, sort of like a god wanted them back deal. I kept noting that there was in general a gap of time after birth before infants were named and considered ‘alive’ in many cultures. :rolleyes: ---
**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 3, 2010, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/114 "2010-11-03T01:24:54Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > I kept noting that there was in general a gap of time after birth before infants were named and considered ‘alive’ in many cultures. :rolleyes: Not quite as :rolleyes: as it seems; consider it a form of emotional insulation in societies with high infant mortality. ---
**Author:** ![greengreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c5a1d2/32.png) [@greengreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/greengreen)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/115 "2010-11-04T01:38:31Z")
It is between the manson family and scientology. No doubt. Anyway, I meantioned it on another thread. Does anyone know of a good cult book to read… I am not talking about the book of mormon either… ---
**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 4, 2010, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/116 "2010-11-04T02:14:04Z")
> [@greengreen](#): > > It is between the manson family and scientology. No doubt. Anyway, I meantioned it on another thread. Does anyone know of a good cult book to read… I am not talking about the book of mormon either… For humour or interesting ideas? ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/117 "2010-11-04T02:21:59Z")
The most detestible religion is the religion of the person who is trying to recruit me (and there is always someone trying to recruit me). ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/118 "2010-11-04T03:22:57Z")
On the positive side, I always thought Shinto was pretty benign and neat. ---
**Author:** ![Erdosain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/erdosain/32/7284_2.png) [@Erdosain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erdosain)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/119 "2010-11-04T03:54:38Z")
> [@Autolycus](#): > > On the positive side, I always thought Shinto was pretty benign and neat. I don’t know that “benign” and the state religion of Imperial Japan really belong in the same sentence. There’s a reason the Yasukuni Shrine is so controversial. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2010, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820/120 "2010-11-04T04:19:29Z")
> [@Erdosain](#): > > I don’t know that “benign” and the state religion of Imperial Japan really belong in the same sentence. There’s a reason the Yasukuni Shrine is so controversial. Well State Shintoism was to Shinto what Wahabbi-ism or however you spell it is to Islam. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-most-detestable-religion-or-sect/558820.md?page=7)