I'm not arguing that Christians, particularly those from Catholic Church at its most monolithic, didn't commit many atrocities. But I would suggest that the religious aspects in the cases you seem to be referencing, i.e. colonialism, weren't the focus but rather just a tool used in pursuit of other, completely secular goals, i.e. glomming natural resources.

It would be difficult to draw a straight line from the Bible, especially the New Testament, in order to justify such behavior. Not so with what is currently happening with Islam.

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Don't take it personally.

CallerBob, what is the address to that religious message board where they have parallel arguments to this board, Religiousfanatics.com?

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Hawaii (fuck) You

No--I totally agree with that. There's no directive in Christianity that says that. But I just don't know if there is one in Islam.

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Communist Russia has ZERO to do with this argument. WFR is of the opinion that eliminating religion would help, but he didn't at all call for STATE-SPONSORED elimination of religion. If you're going to argue, read first.

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No, it wouldn't. People interpret religious teachings to justify whatever beliefs they want to hold.

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Exactly!

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

Ibn Ishaq: 992 – “Fight everyone in the way of Allah and kill those who disbelieve in Allah.

There are numerous ones as written in the Holy books of Islam. Take some time and look them up

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When I am stuck and need to figure something out I always remember the Immortal words of Socrates when he said:"I just drank what?"

Good thing we invented Terminator machines before them.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

I used to think that--but there are some good people out there. Of course, a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds.

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I'm not understanding your jokes here, denis.

Do it then. Make a reasonable argument based on something from the New Testament that supports blowing yourself up in a pizza parlor. I don't believe you can.

Beyond that, there are no Christians who are widely accepted as learned religious scholars who support such beliefs.

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Don't take it personally.

"And the Lord said, 'Whack ye all the serpents which crawl on their bellies and thy town shall be a beacon unto others.'"

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That's the point. A crazy person doesn't have to make a reasonable argument. They just have to believe what they want to believe.

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A verse that advocates killing snakes, what am I missing here?

There are numerous Communist regimes that have called for the elimination of religion. Russia, China and Albania for sure.

If you are going to join someone else's conversation, then reading BEFORE you RESPOND would be HELPFUL for you.

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Let's round em all up then gas em, but this time be sure to finish the job so we don't have to hear about it for at least seventy-some years.

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Power is always in the hands of the masses of men. What oppresses the masses is their own ignorance, their own short-sighted selfishness.
- Henry George

Now you're making a case that there is a higher percentage of "crazy" Muslims than there are of any other religion. I don't believe that could possibly be the case.

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Don't take it personally.

Just look it up.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

One of the very best Simpsons episodes...top five....

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Good God, you still don't understand! No one is calling for state-sponsored elimination of religion.

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So you got nothing?

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Too coherent for you. I understand.

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Hawaii (fuck) You

He usually does this type of thing under his "Panther" account but he must have got his "log ins" mixed up today.

No, I'm in fact not doing that. I'm telling you that any religious text can be used to believe stupid things. Islam doesn't have a huge rate of violence because of its written word. It has a higher rate because of its current culture and the radical elements that are raising children to believe the same thing.

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It's on the same internet as all those gay organizations that are against gay marriage. Look it up.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Perhaps there would be if Christians had been subjected to the centuries of imperialist violence the US and Europe have launched on the Middle East. But I realize that brings actual materialism into the picture instead of the reductive and convenient motherlode of bad ideas rubbish.

It could be the case if the causes of craziness are in the world. Like Saudi Arabia's per capita household income falling from 28 grand to 7 grand in a decade's time--I think that made people angry, which is worse than being crazy. Then religion becomes a vehicle for anger.

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If you use South Park as a guide for a future without religion calling anyone dense is laughable. If you believe in a sky god, even more so.

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Why are only 14 percent of black CPS 11th-graders proficient in English?

Talk about not knowing your history. Muslims have been quite aggressive in colonizing others. This only ended because they fell behind in science, which has been a good thing for human progress.

Islam claims to be the ultimate solution to all human problems. The final revelation of the Abrahamic god. To claim that this belief has no influence on this group of people is laughable. Is the West to blame for their lack of scientific achievements as well?

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Why are only 14 percent of black CPS 11th-graders proficient in English?