The danger of religion. .

[Tobie]

A lot of modern wars have religion as a contributing factor. Look to the middle east, it's all Islamic Extremists. Ireland, it was Catholics vs. Protestants. Religion has been a contributing factor to many a war - mostly due to it's ability to separate otherwise similar peoples.

This is extremely relevant to the situation in the Middle East, where peoples who are otherwise part of the same ethnicity are separated by religious differences. There are whole cities that get sectored by religion (Beirut used to be one of them).

Iraq under Saddam Hussein was another. As long as religion has existed, there has been fighting about which is right.

---

Religion has been a great tool for oppression. Religion was not only the backer for the Crusades, but the horrors of the Dark Ages, the Witch Trials... And these are just some of the Christian ones.

Actually the Dark Ages was a time when organized religion took a back seat. The end of the Dark Ages coincided with the increase in the power of the Church and it's domination in European politics.

Salem Witch Trials? More people were just found dead along a highway in Mexico.

Religion has not been the factor except perhaps a little in Israel (mostly due to illegal land seizures in 1948). Economic stress and Western intervention are the cause of that strife.

You can continue being ignorant if you wish, but there have been many more wars about religion than "a little in Israel".

[Aiza]

State atheism has been a motivating cause of far more oppression in the last 100 years than Christianity has been.

If you need to cherry pick examples from centuries ago to talk about the "danger of religion" when religious people, on the whole, are more charitable, empathetic and mentally healthy than irreligious, then welp.

[Sciwoman]

Even when you factor the Crusades, the death toll due to religious conflict is still minimal when compared to societies that tried to succeed without it. Religion has been a great tool for keeping societies together, but maybe now in the 21st century (definitely not the 20th) we can have societies that don't need that crutch to survive.

Religion has been a great tool for oppression. Religion was not only the backer for the Crusades, but the horrors of the Dark Ages, the Witch Trials... And these are just some of the Christian ones.

Plus the soldiers of that time had to rely on weapons whose killing power was minimal compared to modern weaponry. Yes, they still managed to slaughter each other in pretty fair numbers, but nothing like the numbers they would have gotten with even the weapons from WWI.

[Phil]

State atheism has been a motivating cause of far more oppression in the last 100 years than Christianity has been.

If you need to cherry pick examples from centuries ago to talk about the "danger of religion" when religious people, on the whole, are more charitable, empathetic and mentally healthy than irreligious, then welp.

Besides not knowing the bible you are woefully ignorant of history. Tell me, what state atheism held crusades carrying an atheist cross? When did atheist priests on horseback hold pogroms? When did atheists commit genocide because they were following the commands of Atheismo? You are a sad example of a human.

[Aiza]

Besides not knowing the bible you are woefully ignorant of history. Tell me, what state atheism held crusades carrying an atheist cross? When did atheist priests on horseback hold pogroms? When did atheists commit genocide because they were following the commands of Atheismo? You are a sad example of a human.

I don't know what an "atheist cross" is and this is a rather specific thing to require. So all those religious people killed for being religious by a government who wanted to force strict atheism on the population--they don't count because the government had no "atheist cross"? Or they weren't on horseback? Hmmmmmm.....

Well either way I can certainly count far more religious people killed by atheists for being religious than atheists killed by religious for being atheist. (To be honest, I can't even count a single one of the latter, who were atheist in the modern sense of the term at least).

[Polaris]

Besides not knowing the bible you are woefully ignorant of history. Tell me, what state atheism held crusades carrying an atheist cross? When did atheist priests on horseback hold pogroms? When did atheists commit genocide because they were following the commands of Atheismo? You are a sad example of a human.

I don't know what an "atheist cross" is and this is a rather specific thing to require. So all those religious people killed for being religious by a government who wanted to force strict atheism on the population--they don't count because the government had no "atheist cross"? Or they weren't on horseback? Hmmmmmm.....

Well either way I can certainly count far more religious people killed by atheists for being religious than atheists killed by religious for being atheist. (To be honest, I can't even count a single one of the latter, who were atheist in the modern sense of the term at least).

Wouldn't those who were killed because of their sexual preferences by people who professed they were Christians count?

[kılıç_mehmet]

State atheism has been a motivating cause of far more oppression in the last 100 years than Christianity has been.

If you need to cherry pick examples from centuries ago to talk about the "danger of religion" when religious people, on the whole, are more charitable, empathetic and mentally healthy than irreligious, then welp.

Besides not knowing the bible you are woefully ignorant of history. Tell me, what state atheism held crusades carrying an atheist cross? When did atheist priests on horseback hold pogroms? When did atheists commit genocide because they were following the commands of Atheismo? You are a sad example of a human.

No one did commit genocides in the name of atheism. However, people did persecute those who would like to follow their religions in communis countries, with state atheism as their policy. State atheism does not equal secularism, friend.
Secularism denotes equal distance to all faiths.
State atheism is simply another form of state religion.
Both are equally irrelevant to today's society.

[Aiza]

Wouldn't those who were killed because of their sexual preferences by people who professed they were Christians count?

They count as human beings but they don't count as "religious people killed by atheists for being religious" or "atheists killed by religious for being atheist".

If you meant to quote "state atheism has been a motivating cause of far more oppression in the last 100 years than Christianity has been" thing, then sure, they do count, but I don't think they are enough in numbers to tilt the scales. Atheists still win the oppression prize.

[Phil]

Wouldn't those who were killed because of their sexual preferences by people who professed they were Christians count?

They count as human beings but they don't count as "religious people killed by atheists for being religious" or "atheists killed by religious for being atheist".

If you meant to quote "state atheism has been a motivating cause of far more oppression in the last 100 years than Christianity has been" thing, then sure, they do count, but I don't think they are enough in numbers to tilt the scales. Atheists still win the oppression prize.

See, arrogance and condescension. Someone needs to get laid. Anyone here wanna take one for the team?

[kılıç_mehmet]

Oppression is on the part of the oppressors. These are irrelevant in their religious outlooks.