In light of the Paris attacks, is it time to eradicate religion?

@georgeob1,

Quote:

Indeed a good case (and one more logical than yours) can be made for the proposition that a large share of the misery in human history has come at the hands of reformers of every stripe who believed that they (alone) know best what is good for others and who are willing to enforce the good and eradicate the bad as they see it.

Yeah, exactly, George.

Quote:

“The FBI said that 1,100 criminal acts have been committed since 1976 by the Animal Rights Movement and that "animal rights and eco-extremists" are "the FBI's No. 1 domestic terrorism priority."

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@Thomas,

You said it, and I agree - for whatever that's worth.

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@georgeob1,

georgeob1 wrote:

What constitutes .. "failed to take a stand"?? . . .

Papal decree has a lot of influence. But instead of warning Catholics of the dangers of the Nazis and fascists, the pope commissioned Cardinal Pacelli, the future pope, to negotiate a cooperative agreement.
And:

Quote:

. . . I can clearly see that, in honesty, men must either give up war, or else they must confess that the words of the Redeemer are too lofty for them, and that there is no longer any use in pretending that His teaching can be reduced to practice. I have seen a Christian minister blessing a cannon which had just been founded, and another blessing a war-ship as it glided from the slips. They, the so-called representatives of Christ, blessed these engines of destruction which cruel man has devised to destroy and tear his fellow-worms. What would we say if we read in Holy Writ of our Lord having blessed the battering-rams and the catapults of the legions? Would we think that it was in agreement with His teaching? But there! As long as the heads of the Church wander away so far from the spirit of its teaching as to live in palaces and drive in carriages, what wonder if, with such examples before them, the lower clergy overstep at times the lines laid down by their great Master? Micah Clark Arthur Conan Doyle. Ch 32

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@Thomas,

In place of religion we could worship the holy dollar. OH WAIT....

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@neologist,

We can't eradicate it, but we can certainly make moves to question and devalue its status. For example, the requiem mass held at Notre Dame, or the clerical presence directing 'prayers' at the cenotaph in London on Rememberance Day seem to me to be ill conceived palliative gestures.

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Does the religion of Baruch Goldstein have special status, or must that be obliterated also?

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I can see regulation of religion before eradication. The ironic consideration of Political bodies meddling in religions affairs.

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If there is going to be an eradication, can they please do the Jehovah's Witnesses quite early, as they regularly wake me up on Sunday mornings? And the guy with a microphone and little amplifier outside my local mall? (JESUS WANTS YOU TO REPENT!)

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I have become less inclined toward wanting to eradicate it...than in demanding we stop giving it special status.

Why tax breaks (or tax exemption) for people gathered to honor a blind guess about the REALITY of existence?

Why exhort people to honor and respect the blind guesses of others?

Why declare our country to be "one nation under a blind guess of some about what exists?"

Why do we put our "trust" in a blind guess about the true nature of the REALITY of existence?

All that is illogical.

Nah...I now feel less comfortable with the suggestion of eradicating it...than I do with containing it by refusing to give it the special status our society does now.

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According to one ISIS defector, it wasn't religion which caused him to join the group, but rather money.

An ISIS defector explained a key reason people continue joining the group

Quote:

Despite ISIS's claims of ruling over a Islamic "caliphate" in line with Sharia law, a large number of the group's fighters joined for reasons having little to do with religion, according to a defector from the group that The Daily Beast's Michael Weiss interviewed in Istanbul, Turkey.

Instead, people are joining the organization because they are desperate for money and are struggling to find a way to survive in Syria, where four years of civil war have decimated the economy.

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@revelette2,

The cousin of the 'mastermind' of the Paris attacks which was the girl who blew herself up was just a flat out thug. Reports say she wasn't religious, she was into drinking and drugs and taking racy selfies.

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I have problem with the use of the term defector. That term grew up in the cold war era, and meant someone who abandoned one ideology in order to embrace a different one. So, for example, see Brand X's comments. People used to talk about "Iraqi defectors" before the invasion of Iraq in 2003, when actually they were referring to the self-interested scum bags in the so-called "Iraqi National Congress." I feel pretty much the same way about calling former members of ISIS "defectors." They didn't abandon ISIS to become born-again christians, they got out while the getting was good, undoubtedly convinced that it was all going to pieces around them. To that extent, they too would be motivated by self-interest.

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@Setanta,

I'll take your word on it. Nevertheless, the point remains that according to ISIS deserter (?) religion wasn't his motivator for joining but all the benefits apparently they had under ISIS compared to the Syrian economy.

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@revelette2,

Yes, deserter would be a better term, and what you describe is a much more plausible scenario.

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@revelette2,

Which has long been a recruiting tool, the IS faction obtains a stream of money then provides food, shelter and even healthcare to the poor. From there an alliance is formed. Hezbollah etc. does this all the time.

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@Brand X,

If you put yourself in their shoes, the choices between starving or having food and money, it would be a hard choice to resist; also hard to fight.

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@neologist,

neologist wrote:

is it time to eradicate religion?

As much as I would like to throw religion under the bus, I think it's more important to let people choose their own belief systems. I just wish people were able to make those choices from an educated position and not from indoctrination (usually as a child).

Instead of getting rid of religion let's get rid of Faith Based Reasoning. Let's stop trying to convince people that the idea of "just have Faith and everything will work out" is a good thing. It's not. It's a bad thing which goes counter to every natural instinct we use in our daily lives. Nobody walks out into traffic with their eyes closed and trusts to Faith to save them. Nobody expects the rocks on the ground to suddenly float away just because they have Faith. Having Faith that something is real when everything you know and everything you experience tells you that it's not, is not an admirable trait, it's just delusional thinking and it should not be encouraged.

Let's teach children to think clearly and not threaten them with eternal torment if they don't have Faith in what they are told. Let's let them grow up free from guilt and threats so they can make their own choices. Let's see if religion can survive that.

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@neologist,

Well I truly enjoyed the quote from Arthur Conan Doyle - an old favorite who unfortunately isn't read much anymore. His point is valid, and fairly general too. Many people in positions of power and authority in all walks of life, from religion to business, academia, government, the management of non-profit "punlic benefit" associations, etc. stray from their proper roles. imagining that their roles and reach are greated than they really are. That's merely a fact of human nature,

However, you haven't really addressed any of the points I made in reference to your rather childish and hypocritical proposition.

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@georgeob1,

georgeob1 wrote:

However, you haven't really addressed any of the points I made in reference to your rather childish and hypocritical proposition.

Not my proposition.
The thread title, that is.
My opinion is similar to Volf's. And I offered his essay for discussion.
As did he.

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@neologist,

Now, to fulfill my duties as self-appointed cheer-leader in this here thread, lemme say this here:

Don't wait...
Don't debate..
Git your **** together, and
ERADICATE!

1 Reply

In light of the Paris attacks, is it time to eradicate religion?

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