tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37148773.post3724000433360586614..comments2024-03-27T14:50:47.345-04:00Comments on <center>Sandwalk</center>: Center for Inquiry DoublespeakLarry Moranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05756598746605455848noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37148773.post-69308133489112855062010-09-02T17:09:46.124-04:002010-09-02T17:09:46.124-04:00"Most religions promote some version of the g..."Most religions promote some version of the golden rule. They encourage people to be nice to one another—most of the time. They have been major sources of social stability and order. They provided a support network before government started to take over that role."<br /><br />That's the "good" part.<br />But when you consider the harmful role of major religious institutions, like the wars started in their name, genocides, persecutions and suppression of anything(like science) that conflicted with their views...<br />...Why are you so convinced that those "community resources" would've not been put to better use, if this religious ideology would've been absent?<br /><br />You know, under the communist or Nazi governments, there were also good things being done, for those communities. Stuff like building highways(still usable today), cities and a lot of technological advancements...<br />...All this good could've been achieved by anyone using the same resources they used. And all the harm they brought for humanity will not be balanced out by this considerations.<br /><br />Why you make such a special case for religion?<br />It's strange to read this, coming from you :(<br /><br /><br /><br />Sorry for my English, I tried to keep it short.dosednoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37148773.post-59534586015755396922010-09-01T09:02:26.619-04:002010-09-01T09:02:26.619-04:00Larry: "I think it's especially wrong to ...Larry: "I think it's especially wrong to single out one religion as being more harmful than others."<br /><br />Well, I think comparisons are sometimes warranted. Take apostasy. In many places of the earth, I would much rather be an ex-christian than an ex-muslim.Matti K.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37148773.post-7426018295216346872010-08-31T14:54:23.619-04:002010-08-31T14:54:23.619-04:00When I said ...
"the major religions promote...When I said ...<br /><br /><i>"the major religions promote more good than evil."</i><br /><br />Veronica Abbass asked ...<br /><br /><i>Larry, can you support that statement and give examples?</i><br /><br />Of course I can. In fact, I have 64.5% more support for my claim than those who claim the opposite. :-) <br /><br />I'm curious about your motivation. There are many prominent atheists who claim that religion does far more harm than good. Did you ask them for evidence to support their claim?<br /><br />Most religions promote some version of the golden rule. They encourage people to be nice to one another—most of the time. They have been major sources of social stability and order. They provided a support network before government started to take over that role. <br /><br />I believe that in the modern world all those benefits could be enjoyed without religion, or belief in supernatural beings, but that doesn't mean that religions are always evil or harmful. They're just useless. <br /><br>Larry Moranhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05756598746605455848noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37148773.post-58258688576437744792010-08-31T11:57:47.861-04:002010-08-31T11:57:47.861-04:00Faith will continue to harm and kill, whether it i...<i>Faith will continue to harm and kill, whether it is in Oklahoma City or New York City, until people stop basing their conduct on imaginary divine commands and accept their responsibility to reason together. To honor those killed by faith fanatics, Ground Zero and its immediate vicinity should be kept free of any newly constructed house of worship — of any religion.</i><br /><br />That sounds like the most enlightened expression regarding the most deserved blow to US Americans in modern times. <br />The people killed didn't deserve to die, but the US as a nation had the blow-back coming, in the form of a most elegant and deadly attack imaginable on US pride and megalomania!shonnyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08852080660380595251noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37148773.post-28187989600611316942010-08-31T11:07:55.227-04:002010-08-31T11:07:55.227-04:00"the major religions promote more good than e..."the major religions promote more good than evil."<br /><br />Larry, can you support that statement and give examples?Veronica Abbasshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07037599323472646996noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37148773.post-7827551071510729552010-08-31T10:19:05.641-04:002010-08-31T10:19:05.641-04:00esaul17 asks,
I am confused, do the statements no...esaul17 asks,<br /><br /><i>I am confused, do the statements not more or less say "We think religion is harmful so we do not support the creation of any place of worship, but we do support the legal rights of such places to exist"?<br /><br />This is how I read them and also how I read Larry's position. Where have I gone wrong? </i><br /><br />I don't subscribe to the position that religion is harmful. I think it's mostly wrong and misguided but, on balance, the major religions promote more good than evil. <br /><br />I think it's especially wrong to single out one religion as being more harmful than others. <br /><br>Larry Moranhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05756598746605455848noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37148773.post-14682292752514207162010-08-30T16:33:22.002-04:002010-08-30T16:33:22.002-04:00The statements are tone-deaf. After the catastrop...The statements are tone-deaf. After the catastrophe of the first statement (There are far more Islamic terrorists than those of other religions? What did they do, distribute census forms worldwide in all the terrorist hangouts? How do they define "terrorist"?), the second statement could have expressed the identical thoughts, even most of the same words, in a far more sensitive yet still forthright way. For example:<br /><br />"CFI is committed to the position that reason and science, not faith, are needed to address and resolve humanity’s problems. However, CFI wishes to express its support for the legal right of Muslims to build a community center near Ground Zero."<br /><br />This would have allied CFI far less closely with those who object to the community center on the basis that they consider the USA to be on the Christian side of a religious war with Muslims.Judnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37148773.post-34900758440767067522010-08-30T15:41:14.547-04:002010-08-30T15:41:14.547-04:00I agree with their position. They don't like i...I agree with their position. They don't like it, but they think it should be allowed to be built.Devinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12511286189866238296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37148773.post-38077880266694832092010-08-30T15:34:12.058-04:002010-08-30T15:34:12.058-04:00I am confused, do the statements not more or less ...I am confused, do the statements not more or less say "We think religion is harmful so we do not support the creation of any place of worship, but we do support the legal rights of such places to exist"?<br /><br />This is how I read them and also how I read Larry's position. Where have I gone wrong?esaul17https://www.blogger.com/profile/10876014002438170826noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37148773.post-57664340102470688522010-08-30T10:42:04.375-04:002010-08-30T10:42:04.375-04:00I think this is always going to be a problem with ...I think this is always going to be a problem with organized atheism. To eliminate it altogether you'd have to expressly forbid expressions of gross intolerance, for all the good that would do. Nobody speaks for me, but I think Jon Stewart, Ed Brayton and now you have come close.Tony Sidawayhttp://twitter.com/tonysidawaynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37148773.post-31643475612532332172010-08-29T21:19:44.077-04:002010-08-29T21:19:44.077-04:00Statements like that of CFI unfortunately lend cur...Statements like that of CFI unfortunately lend currency to the view by religionists that atheists wish to enforce their ways on the general populace, and would if they had the majority.Bayesian Bouffant, FCDnoreply@blogger.com