Spiderman
Veteran Member
You bring up another good point...I thought Atheists would find all three of them repugnant! You find none of them repugnant. Yet another area I overlooked. Thank you
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Question for Atheists/agnostics
- Thread starter Spiderman
- Start date
I have to say that at this point in history Islam is causing more problems. I will add to this that I don't think it is anything intrinsic to Islam, it does not need to be this way.
psychoslice
Veteran Member
Right now, I vote Islam, I'm sorry but the truth has to be said.
Spiderman
Veteran Member
Saudi Arabia declares all Atheists are terrorists
All atheists are terrorists, Saudi Arabia declares
No.
I don't feel called to vote for any particular religion.
psychoslice
Veteran Member
Ha, what an idiot lol.
Spiderman
Veteran Member
Could you imagine being being charged with terrorism in that country for simply voicing "atheist thought in any form"? Unbelievable!
psychoslice
Veteran Member
Yes and we don't want people like that in our countries that are free, where we can voice our opinions without having our heads cut off, but these poor people have no idea, they are a victim of culture.
McBell
Unbound
Spiderman
Veteran Member
Causes atheists more grief?
*Shrug*
Considering that most of the world outside the U.S. border isn't American, it's quite easy to imagine.
Cephus
Relentlessly Rational
Currently, clearly Islam, but only because Christianity has been largely neutered by secular society in the west. That is something that has yet to happen, but desperately needs to happen for Islam. Overall though, I think all religion is harmful, you just don't get as many Christians or Jews strapping on bomb vests and killing innocents.
Cephus
Relentlessly Rational
No, but I wouldn't be caught dead in a theocracy. You also have to look at all of the atheists being murdered by Muslims in Bangladesh. It is unbeliveable, but it happens all the time.
Unveiled Artist
Veteran Member
I don't know much other than what I hear on the news about Muslim beliefs and what they do. I hear rare to nothing about Judaism.
Christianity has influenced many Christians whether they act in a human or inhuman way to see people who not of Christ at a disadvantage. That alone puts a wall between people of differing beliefs who are seen, treated, or unknowingly looked at at an unequal level then their peers.
Christianity is in our political, law, and school systems here in America. It's inherent in people's behaviors even those who are not Christian but have christian background still have a mind-set through their own beliefs that mirror christian bias.
It's not "belief in christ; belief in god" that's the problem. I can believe in a penny in my hand, throw it, and it won't hurt anyone. It's how the belief is used, maybe coersion, that causes problems. The hierarchy is a huge issue especially between protestants and Catholics in the US. I think thats one reason Christians came to the US because they protest-ed against the Catholic church authority. But my history is smudged on that.
It is a hard call between Christianity and Islaam.
Still, if I have to choose one, it will be Islaam, if for no other reason because it is so insistent on measuring other beliefs on its own parameters.
I often wonder how Christianity would develop had Islaam not arisen. A lot of the worst developments of Christianity seem to have been either learned from Islaam or else attempted to justify themselves as a reaction against it.
It is very speculative to wonder whether Christianity would not be forgotten had it not found such a convenient foil in Islaam to reinforce the perception that Christianity "must be" significant (or else Islaam would not insist on defining itself in contrast to it). Still, I can't help but keep returning to that speculation. Both faiths seem to me to rely quite a lot on each other in order to seek justification to their continued existence.
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I was thinking the same thing, considering how long the two religions have been at odds with each other. Especially along the front line areas between Christianity and Islam, Christians have been much more fervent and fanatical in areas where they felt most threatened (such as when Spain was invaded by the Moors, or in the Balkans which were invaded by the Turks).
Those Muslim incursions also forced Europeans to search for new trade routes to Asia, which is how Columbus and many of the early explorers came on the scene, leading to the age of colonization. As a result, Europeans acquired more territory, resources - and eventually surpassed the Muslim countries in terms of economic and technological development. This ultimately led to many of these same Muslim countries falling under the thumb of European colonialism and imperialism, especially during the decline and fall of the Ottoman Empire. So, in addition to enmity over religious differences, the Muslims now have a rallying cry which sets themselves up as "liberators" against Western "oppression" and "imperialism."
The real irony here is that, if the Muslims had simply left Europe alone and continued to allow trade with East Asia, then there would have been no incentive for Europeans to seek out new trade routes. It's likely that the relative position of Muslim nations would be far better today than it is now, if they truly acted as the "religion of peace." But their warlike aggressive incursions into Europe eventually came back to haunt them.
So, I think you're correct. Christianity and Islam somehow fed off of each other and become stronger as a result. I have seen this become even more prevalent in my lifetime. When I was a kid being raised as a Catholic, very few people cared much about Islam or worried about it. The big fear back then was communism, and the West was willing to side with any nation or regime as long as they weren't communist (which is how we got hooked up with the Shah of Iran and the Saudi Royal Family, among others). It wasn't really until the Arab Oil Embargo and the Iranian takeover of the US embassy that Muslims started appearing on our radar as a potential threat.
It's also interesting to note that, during the 60s and early 70s, the US was in the process of massive political changes and reversals of policies which existed from the very beginning. We were reforming and reproving ourselves over our past. The civil rights movement was moving ahead with full steam, and there were strong voices against militarism, interventionism, and policies commonly associated with what is known as "Western Imperialism." Those ideals and their advocates started to lose steam as threats from the Middle East became more noticeable. Consequently, as Islam became more radical, aggressive, and hostile towards the US, the US responded by electing Ronald Reagan and supporting a resurgence of US militarism and interventionism around the world.
To try to tie this in the topic of the OP, I suppose the case might be made that Islam may be worse, if only because their aggression towards Europe is what pushed European aggression, colonialism, and imperialism which some people consider harmful. If they had just left Europe alone, history would be much different.
Hi mate,
I couldn't really respond to the poll itself, since I couldn't work out the best way to represent my answer. But for what it's worth, here is the more verbose version.
I don't have equal respect for all religions (monotheistic or otherwise). I tend to pass them all through a fairly simple check, and my views on them tend to tie back to how they do against that.
For example;
- Do they encourage people to Not do to others what they wouldn't want done to themselves?
- How are non-believers treated?
- Are people allowed to leave the religion of their own free will?
- What type of political impact does the religion try to have?
- How are various groups treated by the religion, including women, children, the disabled, various races, etc?
But I try to avoid thinking of Christianity, Judaism or Islam as single 'flavours' due to the high level of variance of belief inside each group.
So, kinda hard to answer. But no, I don't think of all religions as being equal.