(July 7, 2017 at 12:25 pm)FatAndFaithless Wrote: I mean... most Christians are completely normal, good people. Because most people are normal, good people. I doubt most people here would portray a soccer mom who believes in God who leads a normal life as 'toxic', for example. It's the whole condemning-people-for-not-believing-claims-of-absolute-truth-and-morality-you-got-your-religion-in-my-government sort of thing that brings out the ire.
Most humans are capable of empathy and non violence, not just Christians. The problem with ALL religions is that they are lousy ways to conduct political diplomacy, even within the same umbrella labels.
Every religion worldwide, has multiple sub sects that compete over who to follow and how to follow and how to interpret holy writings.
A Tibet Buddhist, Chinese Buddhist and Japanese Shinto Buddhist will not agree on politics but all vie for the political power. Hindus also have more liberal sects and individual families and more conservative sects and individual families. There are liberal and conservative Jews both in America and Israel. Most Catholics in America on average are liberal, but you also have the very conservative Catholic League just as conservative as a white Falwell baptist. You have those same Falwell baptists who vote Trump who don't agree with black southern baptists. And of course there are Sunnis and Shiites who compete in the middle east.
You cannot force ANY religion out of existence on a planet of 7 billion, but our priorities as a species should shift focus away from religious tribalism and to what we have in common.
I agree that most humans are good, but the problem arises when we make truth claims about who has the patent on morality and base those things on a religion, or sub sect of even the same religion. Our species morality is not in a religion, holy person, or holy writing, but in our evolution. Every nation has hospitals and prisons.
