J. van Baardwijk wrote: >Deborah Harrell wrote: > >>To call all religion "pernicious nonsense" is unjustifiable >>overkill; there is without question a great deal of foolishness >>and outright absurdity in any religion, but what nonsense is it to >>ask that 'one >love one's neighbor as oneself?' Or to have >>compassion for the weak, sick or poor, and to respond to the needs >>of those less fortunate than oneself? Most of the major religions >>teach this > >All that is merely a matter of common sense and decent, civilised >behaviour -- I do not need *religion* to tell me to behave like >that.
Maybe so, but since people are naturally selfish and xenophobic, they do need some kind of social contract to tell them that, whether it's religion or laws or whatever other method. And what is it about the Internet that makes religion bashing so okay? If I said that we shoulnd't need the Bill of Rights, and that it's pernicious nonsense, I'd get flamed into oblivion. And while that's not what I think, according to Jeroen's logic, I shouldn't *need* something to tell me that people should be free to speak their minds. Jim ------------------------------------------------ Join Excite! - http://www.excite.com The most personalized portal on the Web!
