Jim, I think that you overreacted here. Stephen pointed to several examples
of what is very clearly the "garbage" of religion (as opposed to the
"'moral' religion", to use your words in each case), and suggested that "a
little less religion" would help. Clearly his post is an example of
"screaming louder for more accountability", not of suggesting that religion
is completely negative and in need of being extinguished.
I agree with Stephen on this - I think we could be a lot better off if the
iron grip of religion on our policies and on our very imaginations were to
be loosened at least a bit. I suspect we might have even avoided some of the
events that Jim holds up as examples of _non_ religious terrorism.
Paul Smith
Alverno College
Milwaukee
James Guinee wrote:
> Stephen Black wrote:
> > Beg to differ. Encouraging religious beliefs is a good way to
> > discourage the continuance of the human race (or a subset of it).
> > Think the Crusades, the Inquisition, pogroms, Ireland, Israel,
> > India/Pakistan, Afghanistan, New York City, September 11. Or that
> > wearing a condom to prevent the spread of AIDS (e.g. in Africa)
> > is sinful.
> >
> > Perhaps a little less religion is what the human race really
> > needs if we want to encourage it to continue.
(snip)
> I'm the first to admit to religion's sad legacy of atrocities. But
> unless I've overreacted, I see Stephen and others consistently portraying
religion
> as completely negative, instead of using their intellectual prowess to
> distinguish between what is healhy and what is not, what is "moral"
religion and
> what is garbage.
>
> Geez -- every precious institution in this country fails us in some way
> -- school, marriage, family.
>
> Should we extinguish them too, or just scream louder for more
> accountability?
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