Should any religious body be the sole moral authority?

[Dannichu]

In fact, many people would not do that without the religious motivation, or, at least, not nearly as easily.
Religion is a simple amplification of their "craziness" or so.

Uh, no. I don't think so. It's like a kid going on a school shooting and then everyone blaming it on the fact he played Hitman the night before he carried it out. Any "crazy" act ("crazy" here meaning "extremely abnormal") is more than likely to be due to a number of reasons (or at the very least, a single condition with mulpiple causes), not just because of a person's religious beliefs.

You might dislike religion, but that in no was justifies you using it as a scapegoat for everything a person who happens to be religious does. That's as bad as Bill O'Reilly saying that atheists are evil because Hitler and Stalin were.

 

[Harlequin]

Difference: atheism doesn't give anyone a reason to hate anyone else; religion does.

 

[Icalasari]

Difference: atheism doesn't give anyone a reason to hate anyone else; religion does.

...Wut o.o

There are likely examples of Atheists hating Theists, but I am too lazy to look right now. What I am going to touch on is, no, people don't need religion to have a reason to hate each other

People will ALWAYS find something (oh, they have more money, oh, they have a better house, oh, they have piercings, oh, they have blonde hair, oh, they have brown eyes, oh, they are/have *insert random stupid thing here*)

 

[Alexi]

...Wut o.o

There are likely examples of Atheists hating Theists, but I am too lazy to look right now. What I am going to touch on is, no, people don't need religion to have a reason to hate each other

Vyraura.

 

[EvilCrazyMonkey]

Uh, no. I don't think so. It's like a kid going on a school shooting and then everyone blaming it on the fact he played Hitman the night before he carried it out. Any "crazy" act ("crazy" here meaning "extremely abnormal") is more than likely to be due to a number of reasons (or at the very least, a single condition with mulpiple causes), not just because of a person's religious beliefs.

You might dislike religion, but that in no was justifies you using it as a scapegoat for everything a person who happens to be religious does. That's as bad as Bill O'Reilly saying that atheists are evil because Hitler and Stalin were.

What I meant is that it is basic motivation for the at least slightly mentally unstable, and because it is deeply rooted in their thoughts (most of the time they've learned of it since childhood), it makes the most sense to them. It also closely ties with moral beliefs, which are very deeply rooted if they've been in place for all but a few years of the person's life. Those beliefs are hard to weed out, and if the belief is radical enough, it can cause problems.

And no, I am blaming things on religion, and I definitely am not doing so because of my general dislike of it. I am simply stating that dogmatic beliefs can cause many radical acts; religion happens to be one of them. I am also stating that those radical acts are less rare due to the lifelong teachings of that religion and how it can be used for acts such as terrorism.

My basic point is that dogmatic beliefs are the most likely to amplify mental instability to critical points; if I raised my future children to hate any and everyone that lives in Denver, Colorado, then they would be much, much more likely to bomb that city than if they took a bad trip there or heard from a friend that it is the hellhole of Earth. I am not saying that religion is the only thing, but one of many. It also happens to be common, but not the radical part.

I am actually very tolerant of religion; however, my throat is rather allergic to its shoving.

...Wut o.o

There are likely examples of Atheists hating Theists, but I am too lazy to look right now. What I am going to touch on is, no, people don't need religion to have a reason to hate each other

It is actually quite easy to brainwash oneself (without noticing) to think that religion is evil and should be wiped from the face of the earth, just like theists can say about us.

People will ALWAYS find something (oh, they have more money, oh, they have a better house, oh, they have piercings, oh, they have blonde hair, oh, they have brown eyes, oh, they are/have *insert random stupid thing here*)

People will always pity themselves and be jealous of others. But honestly, how many times have you heard of Islamic-based explosions as compared to the murder of someone due to wealth, house status, piercing status, hair color, eye color, or anything else you would like to add?

 

[Dannichu]

But honestly, how many times have you heard of Islamic-based explosions as compared to the murder of someone due to wealth, house status, piercing status, hair color, eye color, or anything else you would like to add?

When that guy blew up a nail bomb in a gay bar in London because he was hated gays.
When the guy in Montreal shot eleven of his female classmates because he hated women.

It's still mass murder over a hatred of a group of people, and no matter how steeped in prejudice it is, there's obviously something seriously wrong with the person, or everyone who was a racist/sexist/homophobe/anti-semetist/whatever would do it.

 

[Icalasari]

People will always pity themselves and be jealous of others. But honestly, how many times have you heard of Islamic-based explosions as compared to the murder of someone due to wealth, house status, piercing status, hair color, eye color, or anything else you would like to add?

Gassing Chamber equivalent done by Hitler. >.> I know he did it to the Jewish, but if I remember correctly, his ultimate goal was to kill anybody who wasn't German, Blonde, or Blue-Eyed

(He had brown eyes and brown hair, which would mean that he would have had to kill himself. And from what I have heard, he may have even been Jewish himself. Goes to show you how crazy he was... Anyways...)

 

[Valor]

That's as bad as Bill O'Reilly saying that atheists are evil because Hitler and Stalin were.

And ironically, Hitler was actually Catholic. Papa Bear ain't going to say that, though.

^ I don't see how being born of Jewish ancestors makes you Jewish. I don't consider myself Catholic despite a large family of Catholics.

 

[Icalasari]

>.> Ah, wrong information...

Still, he was crazy, so...

 

[Alexi]

And ironically, Hitler was actually Catholic. Papa Bear ain't going to say that, though.

^ I don't see how being born of Jewish ancestors makes you Jewish. I don't consider myself Catholic despite a large family of Catholics.

Judaism is a religion, but Jews are also a race of people. It's just like how if your ancestors are Italian, you're Italian. You may not be Catholic, just like how some people of Jewish decent aren't always Jewish (I knew someone who was a Satanist).

 

[Harlequin]

Gassing Chamber equivalent done by Hitler. >.> I know he did it to the Jewish, but if I remember correctly, his ultimate goal was to kill anybody who wasn't German, Blonde, or Blue-Eyed

(He had brown eyes and brown hair, which would mean that he would have had to kill himself. And from what I have heard, he may have even been Jewish himself. Goes to show you how crazy he was... Anyways...)

no sry plz lurn 2 hitler.

He regarded the blond, blue-eyed German as the "ideal" but as long as you were white you were fine. He didn't like any of the other races, most specifically Jews.

PLUS whilst many atheists might hate theists or religion, atheism itself gives nobody any reason to hate anything. It's a lack of belief, nothing more. There's no moral code to go with it, nobody saying "believe this because the sky fairies said so" etc.

 

[Vladimir Putin's LJ]

(He had brown eyes and brown hair, which would mean that he would have had to kill himself. And from what I have heard, he may have even been Jewish himself. Goes to show you how crazy he was... Anyways...)

He did have blue eyes. And no, he wasn't Jewish, but he was Catholic and backed by the Catholic church while he was out exterminating Jews.
Now, I see something slightly wrong here.

no sry plz lurn 2 hitler.

He regarded the blond, blue-eyed German as the "ideal" but as long as you were white you were fine. He didn't like any of the other races, most specifically Jews.

PLUS whilst many atheists might hate theists or religion, atheism itself gives nobody any reason to hate anything. It's a lack of belief, nothing more. There's no moral code to go with it, nobody saying "belief this because the sky fairies said so" etc.

agreein' wit dis post

 

[Zuu]

Hell to the no.

 

[EvilCrazyMonkey]

I must change my plan.

But honestly, how many times have you heard of Islamic-based explosions as compared to the murder of someone due to wealth, house status, piercing status, hair color, eye color, or anything else you would like to add?

But honestly, how many times have you heard of murder due to dogmatic beliefs, usually involving thinking someone/something is evil and/or inferior as compared to the murder of someone else due to jealousy, pity, or anything else of the like?

My point was: it is much more common to have murder when the murderer thinks the victim is evil/inferior/whatever than it is to kill out of jealousy or pity.

edit:
Danni please pay attention to my whole post, specifically this part.

My basic point is that dogmatic beliefs are the most likely to amplify mental instability to critical points; if I raised my future children to hate any and everyone that lives in Denver, Colorado, then they would be much, much more likely to bomb that city than if they took a bad trip there or heard from a friend that it is the hellhole of Earth.

 

[Icalasari]

But honestly, how many times have you heard of murder due to dogmatic beliefs, usually involving thinking someone/something is evil and/or inferior as compared to the murder of someone else due to jealousy, pity, or anything else of the like?

Now THAT, I must concede to

 

[Retsu]

You could say you could live by Buddhism, which I think is being nice to each other and stuff, but it kinda revolves around Buddha, a God-like figure, soo..

Some people, I believe, follow Buddhism while not believing in Buddha, though.

It's quite apparent from this post that you know next to nothing about Buddhism.

 

[Philly]

In Buddhism you do not "Believe" in Buddha. Buddha was an Indian prince, who wento on a quest for happiness. That is a historical fact, so to not believe in Buddha would be to defy creditable historical evidence.

 

[Icalasari]

You could say you could live by Buddhism, which I think is being nice to each other and stuff, but it kinda revolves around Buddha, a God-like figure, soo..

Some people, I believe, follow Buddhism while not believing in Buddha, though.

...Erm, wait, what?

1. Buddah is not a god, he is an enlightened person
2. Buddah is the FOUNDER OF BUDDHISM (I may have facts crossed here, but I am almost certain about this)
3. You can't follow a religion without being a follower of that religion

 

[Valor]

One can easily follow the ideals of a religion while not actually being a part of said religion. There are plenty of people out there, for example, that believe in God, yet do not attend any type of church, yet base their morals on a specific religion.

 

[#1 bro]

religion is definitely a backwards force in our society (assuming that all religions are false).

I say this because religion seems to constantly working against true enlightenment as a culture. a classic example is the incident with Galileo. if it weren't for religion, we might have gay marriage legalized already. more people would be accepting evolution. we'd have so much less ignorance in the world. and way back in Medieval times, the pope declared polyphony to be a work of the devil, and promptly banned it. Polyphony.

I mean, yeah, the idea that when you die you go to heaven and meet Jesus (instead of just dying) helps a lot of people sleep at night. but if it comes at the price of being a less enlightened society, I say fuck it. surely it would be better to develop a philosophy for life that actually works? (for example, loving your neighbor is a great thing to do, but praying doesn't do shit.) and if we developed a mentality that let us embrace death (like in Scyther's Story and Fall of a Leader) then we would all be able to sleep at night, without having to resort to believing in silly fantasies.

I wouldn't really mind if a religious body was the moral authority in a nation that was almost entirely based around said religion (such as Israel), but if one religions body were to govern a more diverse country such as the US, I would definitely be against it.