I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, and I’ve come to some conclusions. IronGoth wants me to hate Islam, seemingly in preference to Christianity. I would have to think about that a bit. I’ve been thinking, in fact, and what I’ve come up with is this:
Islam, Christianity, Judaism, all of these religions have it wrong.
In fact, all organized religions have got it very wrong. They all share certain common features.
- Prescription. They all prescribe certain methods of acting, and ways of being, that will somehow endear you to God. Admittedly, I find some of Islam’s prescriptions tough to swallow, what with being a woman and everything, but I’m also not so blind as to think that what we Westerners see on the surface is all there is to it. Christianity also has prescriptive laws, though a lot of the so-called believers don’t actually follow them. Judaism has a lot of rules too, which I find difficult to understand: people actually believe in them. Bizarre.
- Exclusion. All religions state that they are the one true faith. All of the religions we discuss here state that there can be no other religion, and they state that unbelievers are inferior. Moreover, they all state that their method is the only way to communicate with God. All the successful ones state either that it is impossible to leave once you’re in, or that believers should spread their faith as far as possible. Some of them say both!
- Denial of proof. No religion allows itself the burden of proof. They all work on the basis that they are somehow self-evident. The believers really think this. They make inherently non-falsifiable claims and then call them proof.
People, the reason all these religions have it wrong is that they’re exclusionary and act as private members clubs. You know what I think? If you want to have a relationship with God, you should have it on your own terms, or it is worthless. You need to have what you have inside your head, and stop using someone else’s rulebook. Especially rulebooks thousands of years old. These mass weddings have to stop.
You’ve missed off the Zeroth Law of Religions (short version):
They’re All Bollocks.
Much easier to remember, and a very useful guidance tool in choosing your religion du jour.
RE: IronGoth wants me to hate Islam, seemingly in preference to Christianity.
Not true. All I was asking you to do was look beyond the possibility that what happened in London boils down simply to the actions of Bush and Blair,and that if we shot them both all the sudden we’d have peace between the faiths.
If we leave the Gulf entirely, and allow Israel to be razed to the ground, it won’t stop the practice of amputations, etc.
That’s it. You can hate or love whatever you like, makes no difference to me.
The part you don’t seem to understand is: it is none of our fucking concern what happens to Israel. It’s none of our concern how the Saudis choose to punish their criminals. It’s none of our concern, do you understand that?
These people just happen to live in countries where there’s lots of oil. That is the single and only reason we fuck around with them. Us fucking around with them is what causes this terrorism. Do you understand? It’s not religious; religion is only a pretext, a tool in the hands of a small number of very evil men.
The sole and only difference between Israel and Palestine is that the US arms Israeli soldiers.
The Saudi regime is fucking disgraceful, but you find a member of US government prepared to say so.
Now back the fuck off with your interventionist bullshit because, frankly, you’re no cleaner than they are, Mr. ‘I Support Capital Punishment’.
RE: The part you don’t seem to understand is: it is none of our fucking concern what happens to Israel. It’s none of our concern how the Saudis choose to punish their criminals. It’s none of our concern, do you understand that?
I tend to agree. But when they want to bring their mores ways and laws to England and the USA, that’s when I have a problem.
RE: Us fucking around with them is what causes this terrorism. Do you understand?
That is NOT TRUE, Jasmine. All we have done with the oil business is given them the money and the infrastructure to attack us. If not for oil they’d still be riding horses in the dunes, and though they’d be waging jihad against their neighbours we’d never have even heard of em.
Jihad is in the Koran. Even if we left the Gulf, it would NOT, NEVER, stop Jihad, because Jihad is in the Koran. For someone as intelligent and literate as yourself, I can’t believe you’d deny the printed word. Jihad is in the Koran. They’d still be doing it.
RE: It’s not religious; religion is only a pretext, a tool in the hands of a small number of very evil men.
Religion is NOT a pretext. It is in Western cultures where people don’t really believe that fervently in religion – but in places where they are truly religious maniacs, yes, it damn well is about the commandment of Jihad and the commandment of fatwa. It wasn’t when Islam as a culture had more money and more couth back when we were walking around wearing woad, but we’re not in that world anymore.
RE: The Saudi regime is fucking disgraceful, but you find a member of US government prepared to say so.
I certainly say so. I say convert to hemp based gasoline and be done with it. Not hydrogen based cars that run off oil.
RE: Mr. ‘I Support Capital Punishment’.
What’s wrong with capital punishment? Dead murderers don’t kill again.
You are both 100% wrong and completely ignorant on the score of ‘what causes terrorism’.
Have you even read Osama bin Laden’s writings on the subject? Have you any idea why this is important? Or are you just content to swallow the dittohead lies you’re spouting here?
RE: Especially rulebooks thousands of years old. These mass weddings have to stop.
Er, mass weddings are a Moonies kind of thing, and if I remember correctly Moon is still alive and therefore couldn’t have written books thousands of years old.
Oh Irongoth, is there a point you can’t miss?
The “mass weddings” I refer to are the mass religions, each professing to marry Man and God in the One True Fashion.
By the way, I found your previous comment astonishingly offensive, not to mention utterly moronic, so I’m not going to publish it. The Dittohead lie to which I refer is ‘Islam is a HATE RELIGION RAAAAR’ which you seem awfully keen on promoting, you wretched little man. Go find something more worthwhile to do.
From The Grauniad:
These acts may be committed by people who call themselves Muslims, but they violate essential Islamic principles. The Qur’an prohibits aggressive warfare, permits war only in self-defence and insists that the true Islamic values are peace, reconciliation and forgiveness. It also states firmly that there must be no coercion in religious matters, and for centuries Islam had a much better record of religious tolerance than Christianity.
Like the Bible, the Qur’an has its share of aggressive texts, but like all the great religions, its main thrust is towards kindliness and compassion. Islamic law outlaws war against any country in which Muslims are allowed to practice their religion freely, and forbids the use of fire, the destruction of buildings and the killing of innocent civilians in a military campaign. So although Muslims, like Christians or Jews, have all too often failed to live up to their ideals, it is not because of the religion per se.
Very well said. It’s too bad that what should be a simple label for a set of related ideas seems to inevitable devolve into some sort of in-group/out-group, especially when it’s relating to the interface with the Devine.
You missed out the general ideas that all religions have been engineered to allow the few powerful rich men to rule over all that are idiot enough to follow them. did you know the Romans burnt all the but the few most conservative gospels? but as fox magrathea said; very well said.