@Gwendolyn2018 Well if religion gives assholes excuses / cover to be assholes, then it becomes hard to tell whether it's the people or the group. One hand washes the other. It's an un-virtuous cycle.

If you're calling out people for being jerks, and most of those jerks are religious jerks, it becomes a distinction without a difference.

If one wishes to salvage something virtuous out of religion to justify some theoretical religion that's unsullied by involvement with people, I'm not sure what the point is.

@Gwendolyn2018 But is not so that those who purvey the religious ideologies are the very same ones who tell the followers what to do?
No matter which ever way you choose to 'toss the salad' it still comes down to the fact religions/religious leaders rely upon being able to so manipulate their followers that they can actually DICTATE to those followers what is moral and what is not DESPITE the innate and inherent morals and ethics of the followers, ergo, in my opinion, it is NOT just the body of the snake that elects to bite you but the head, the mind and the body upon which the responsibility for the bite rests entirely.

@Gwendolyn2018 Religion is then not a benefit to society ... just like nationalism isn't.

If it were just the occasional person hiding behind religion, it would be one thing. But it's most of them, TBH. And yes, I've personally known religious people who are -- in spite of being religious -- wonderful human beings. That doesn't serve as a justification for religion.

@Gwendolyn2018 I agree with you in theory, but since Christianity didn't evolve into the peaceful helpful thing you describe ... whether it is the problem or made into one by people scarcely matters. It's a failed experiment.

@Gwendolyn2018 Roman legionaries sworn both to the Senate/Emperors of Rome and to the God, Mars if one wants be 100% correct, ergo, Roman religion was also one of the driving forces behind Roman Warfare and Conquests.
The Nazis used the ideology of the German Race being descended from the Divine Aryan Race to validate, justify and consolidate the German Peoples.
Roman Emperor Constantine knew he faced crushing defeat and accepted the somewhat 'blackmail type' offer from the Messianics ( later to be know as Christians btw) that they would bolster his Legions in EXCHANGE for him vowing to legalise their belief system should he become Emperor of the WHOLE roman Empire, again religion used its influence to try to achieve its desired outcome.

It is exactly this reason that should drive animosity towards Christianity. Religion is not benign in America.

So true!!!

then you (we) are screwed...but it will pass.... relax and enjoy your truths..

I agree.
Beware of this poster..he just likes to stir the pot to get a reaction. Ugh!

@2muchstupidity Who me? You don't know me so you can't be referring to me.

@2muchstupidity, @blzjz All I'm sayiing is there should be accomodation for us and as much respect for us as they demand from us for them.

I was referring to the poster who said he was free because he didn't believe in animosity.
Sometimes when you post a comment, you can't tell who you are answering.

@2muchstupidity ....UGH as much as you want...if having a different opinion is a crime then I am guilty...

sometimes I don't understand the acronyms... WWJD?....

Yes. We need to shout at all of the pedophiles and make it known what they are doing to children! If everyone stayed quiet out of fear and intimidation, then they win.

@2muchstupidity pedophiles are not all religious zealots....just bad people..

@blzjz What Would Jesus Do? They are supposed to ask themselves that before they act/react. I sure do not see much of that idea in action!!!
BTW you can Google acronyms.

@AnneWimsey I am with blzjz on this, I had to google WWJD the first time I encoutered it on this site. Too many acronyms are not good. This is after all, an international site, and few countries share the same conventions, it seems unreasonable to over use acronyms, unless they are very common and international, when that means making fifty people google something.

@AnneWimsey Jesus wants family members to draw their swords and kill each other.
There are certain siblings I don't like, but I think I'll not do what Jesus would, in this case.

ya but they all will die too...

outrage is a form of violence...I ignore the noise..

I agree!!

@blzjz Outrage is a form of violence? Are you high on some hallucinogen?

@Storm1752 I agree of course. If nobody had ever got outraged, rich people would still be owning slaves and be proud of it, people would be imprisoned for debt, girls who got pregnant would be enslaved by the church, and we would still hang starving children for stealing food.

no and I am not surprised .. and I am free and happy because I don't care what fools say

@blzjz Until those fools take power and no longer allow you the freedom you cherish.

@blzjz you bet, Trump is a fool, for sure

Yeah. We don't need one more nutcase when I'm here.........wait,,,,,,,,,never mind.

of course I am..... that is what my freedom has given me...

I agree with you. This person likes to stir the pot...he's full of shit!!

@2muchstupidity I'll tell you who are full of shit. The pedophile Catholic Priests!!!!

for one thing it means there will be $$ in catering to atheists and agnostics ....and we already choose our Dr. to be a social awareness match...

@blzjz You have the benefit of living in a "socialist" country according to our rightwing wackjob fundies. In the US where most of us have our health plans dictated to us by our employers that is definitely not the case. You can enjoy your utopia in the snow but for those of us facing a wannabe Christian Taliban resistance to their theocracy is essential.

@JimG believe me ....I feel your pain.... fight for the freedom...

Just to throw my own bullshit into this, I'm sick of the Bible thumpers , I'm sick of the Trumpsters, I'm sick of racists and women bashers!! I really just want to be left alone anymore. I like getting on here and vent. Nobody really gives a shit about anybody anyway, it' s just paying the bills and trying to survive. Those Muslims decapitate woman for nothing, treat women like dogs....I'm sick of that primitive bullshit too.......gone, them people are animals...

Oh, I most definitely feel major animosity.
No question. It's animosity.

@KKGator Perhaps so but not without reason. People have been hurt.

@think-beyond People will always be hurt. It's in human nature to be violent.
Religion just helps a lot of people justify what they do to others.
I hear a lot of people around here call themselves "warriors for Christ".
There is no reason to their agendas.
They WANT to hurt people who don't believe the way they think they 'should'.

@KKGator you seem to get it... the rancor is just the beginning of another religion... people will Believe anything that makes them feel like a rebel... they will sell a piece of their "soul" for it...

This is true!

@blzjz The rancor is always justified. Rebellion is always justified.

As far as religion goes, there is always someone selling something.

@KKGator I agree completely....and I support rebellion... just don't use the oppositions tactics....or we haven't progressed...

@blzjz They're all the same tactics. Doesn't matter who is using them.
I don't believe we've "progressed" at all.
If we had, this wouldn't even be an issue.

I think there's a big difference between animosity and righteous indignation.

@JohnnyQB How do you know this? Does this take into account the pervasive infiltration of police departments by the KKK?

g

@JohnnyQB KKK, ever heard of them? Truth Keepers?

@genessa Sorry, I had enough of his nonsense. Blocked.

@JohnnyQB you tell me. tell me right after you source your assertion that most people shot by cops are people that should be shot. i asked first.

g

@PondartIncbendog can't blame you. peace of mind is valuable too.

g

@genessa I'm not very logical on this one. I worked for a minister who was a white supremacist. I'm half Japanese and atheist. Guess how that went?

@PondartIncbendog haha i am guessing it went south pretty quickly!

by the way, i lived in japan for 10 years. a japanese film producer meant his description of me as a compliment, and i took it as such, when he said i was "jewpanese." my ethnicity is jewish; i am, like you, an atheist.

g

@PondartIncbendog if you feel so snowflaked (new verb) by @genessa then you are going to block a lot of folks here. I've yet to block anyone, myself. But I invite you to block me.

@Beowulfsfriend Thanks for the defense but Pondar has not blocked me and was not referring to me

g

@JohnnyQB Evidently not...

Guy shoulda been a preacher.

If we would just all cooperate...........relax,,,,,,,,,,conform.........

then you don't understand I am sorry to say

In the US, they already do all that.
There is supposed to be separation between church and state.
It's in the Constitution, but it gets ignored with alarming frequency.
The christians have taken over and force their beliefs on everyone.
They must be stopped.

@Gwendolyn2018 Well in the west animosities have stopped the religious from being allowed to burn atheist in the town square, they have been stopped from banning books, they have been stopped from persecuting and ostracising non believers, they lost the power of the ridiculous law of blasphemy and the censorship associated with it, it has stopped them demeaning women and persecuting gay people.
In short being outraged at religion in the west has allowed reasonable people to rob religion of about 50% of it's dangerous power in the west.

@Gwendolyn2018 You're probably correct.

@Gwendolyn2018 Laws do not change without a demand for them to do so, anger at injustice is always a great motivator for change.

@ToolGuy
Seriously? The last witchcraft trials pursued by the C of E were in 1945, homosexuality was only legalised in the UK in the late 1960s, Blasphemy laws were never fully repealed but were rather decriminalised in the UK and still exist in Ireland, spain and other western countries.
Sex discriminate was only outlawed in 1975 but the churches were given an exemption, churches don't pay taxes.
The state of Theological power is even worse in the USA

Please don't accuse me of lying when you obviously are misinformed

@ToolGuy You said quote "@LenHazell53 That is not true." this implies you find my statements to be a lie, you do not have to call me a liar to imply that I am one.
I too have been an activist, how ever unlike you I was not willing to make bedfellows of evil idiots who while apparently defying their own holy book would not renounce it and would on every possible occasion try to water down the demands for equality expressed in favour of gaining exceptions for their own theocratic abominations.

Don't blame the sinner, blame the sin?

Oh gee, thanks for setting us all straight: it's CORRUPT religion we should be hostile toward, not all the good, decent religions full of light and wisdom!
Got it. Thanks.
Now explain to me how an organization can be wise when it is based on fiction and outright lies.
Explain how to reform a falsehood to make it better, how that's preferable to simply eliminating it.
Explain to me the shortcomings of OBJECTIVE, verifiable TRUTH, and in what ways exactly it is "unhealhy."

@Storm1752 Very neat and exact, well said. Personally I have lived most of my life with objective truth and never felt the need for anything more. And I am now so near to mortallity, I can't see that I ever will.

They don't set us on fire anymore! I think,,,,,,,,,

@PondartIncbendog not because they don't want too.

@1of5 A few more months of winter and I'll appreciate being on fire.

@PondartIncbendog "teach a man to build a fire and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life"*

*some internet genius

@1of5 take it as a win....

@blzjz you again, telling me what to do?

GFY

@1of5 you forget this was my post to begin.... not telling anybody to do anything except be happy and be free.... I feel like the posse is out after me... but I am not angry at you nor carry animosity.... just saying...

@blzjz well if everyone thinks you're wrong, you maybe should quit saying the same thing over and over and listen for a minute. Chances are you're wrong.

I didn't forget whose post this was. Jesus Christ, person, now you know what I remember?

But does not the Christian bible clearly state " Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." ???
So, in essence, all we are doing is giving like for like, Quid Pro Quo in fact, since they HAVE been doing exactly what they wanted all along what they wanted done to them?

@Triphid The bible is full of lies and contradictions.

@Triphid We don't want to kill them. We want their RELIGION to go away.

@Triphid I don't give a hoot what the Bible or any other allegedly "holy" book says.

@Sticks48 Yeah, neither do I, in fact I don't like any kind of violence at all.
Al I was attempting to do was to point out what their own babble (bible) tells them.

@Triphid Can we set them on fire now? ,,,,,,,,Please?

@PondartIncbendog No, since that causes pollution and they've polluted the world more than enough with their bullshit anyway, haven't they?
Perhaps recycling them into becoming decent, free-thinking, moral humans would be a far better idea?

@Gwendolyn2018 Wow. Went straight to "extermination", didn't ya?

If "these things will pass" were true, it would have happened by now.
BINGO

@Gwendolyn2018 Look, human nature isn't going to change. We suck. We've always sucked.
Humans are inherently violent, and it's really all we understand, as a collective.
Especially now.
It would be really nice if "love" conquered all, but it doesn't.
It never has, and it never will.
Gotta fight fire with fire.

I am no lover of religion... but I sure won't lose sleep over it....

@blzjz I don't lose sleep over people who have a religion and practice it. I do lose sleep when they start trying to force their religion, via the government, onto the rest of us. And, right now, that is exactly what the Right Wing, Evangelical, Dominionist/Christian Imperialist, end of the world believers are doing.

@Joanne obey little.... resist much....