Robatoy wrote:

In article ,
Tom Watson wrote:


2000 Young Americans have now died since the beginning of this "War".

Why is it important to post this here?


[snipped for brevity]

I really, really, really, really try VERY hard to stay out of these
types of discussions...

BUT....

Once in a blue moon, I stumble upon an article that sums up a few of my
sentiments. This article (rant) will likely get the author killed as he
****es off just about every religion on the planet, but dammit, he makes
you think. (Made *me* think, anyway..but then again..I had time to think
today.)
I don't see this article as anything more than a poignant illustration
just exactly how ****ed up we all are...depending where you come from,
of course. Killing for peace has always been difficult for me to
reconcile, even though I acknowledge the need for it sometimes.

http://tinyurl.com/82v3l


Well, let's see now. Setting aside the entirely inappropriate, rude,
and vicious tone of this rant, let's review the rather significant
*good* things the religions he mentions have accomplished:

- It was the Muslim Moors who rediscovered and preserved the ancient Greek
philosophers' writings that otherwise would be lost to us after the
burning of the library at Alexandria. They did this because
*their religious tradition* respected this sort of thing.

- It was primarily people acting out of *religious* (Judeo-Christian)
conviction that finally ended Slavery for most of the world. Slavery
had been around for most of the 10,000 or so recorded years of history,
but it took people of Faith to end it once-and-for-all in the 19th
Century. They were so effective, Slavery today is almost non-existent
except in *atheist* totalitarian states and a few remaining tribal
cultures in Africa (where the "relgion" at best is animist or
pantheist with little or no personal moral component). Certainly
there is far, far less of it then ever in human history.

- It was primarily and directly as a consequence of Christian missionaries
that modern medicine and literacy were introduced to the undeveloped
world in South America and Africa. There is precious little medical
infrastructure in Africa today, but there would likely be even less or
none had it not been for these early missionaries. For the record,
a significant number of them were murdered in the early going by the
locals, but people of Faith kept going back until they were able to help.

- In the 20th Century, especially the Cold War, it was the outcry of
devout Christians and Jews that kept the human rights abuses in the
Soviet Union and China on the front burner of popular conscience.
Some of these people risked their lives to smuggle not only religious
literature into these countries, but also humanitarian aid. I have
met and know some of these people personally. They are remarkably
brave, devout, and humble people, rather unlike the author of the
rant you seem to admire so much.

- As we speak, Christian missionaries are regularly reducing spoken
languages into written form all over the world in places like
Indonesia. Yes, their motives are religious, but they alone
endure the personal hardship, physical risks, and deprivations
required to live among native peoples to usher them into an age
of literacy. You pretty much never see pompous atheists like
the author above making any such sacrifices in the interest of
others.

- Jewish and Christian charities account for a huge percentage of
humanitarian outreach such as famine relief, post disaster
aid, and so on. While the UN sits on its hands and gives
its members the opportunity to steal Oil-For-Food money,
organizations like the Salvation Army, Jewish Charities, and
World Vision, quietly toil away to alleviate the suffering of
people not lucky enough to be born in a place so sophisticated
that Faith in a Deity is dismissed as "insanity".

Yes, there have been abuses of religious power from the ancient Egypt to
the Spanish Inquisition to Tammy Faye Baker. But *all* human
institutions are at risk for this. The Soviet atheists alone were guilty
of murdering north of 20 Million people in about 3 years before WWII
even got started. Show me *any* religion with that degree of foul
behavior.

One does not have to be personally religious or devout to acknowledge
the many very real contributions of religious Faith to the human
experience. To dismiss all people of Faith as fools, charlatans, and
criminally insane is both factually in error and in rather poor taste.
But that's OK. Anyone who has to rant the way this author did, is none
too sure of their position. You pretty much never see anyone running
around screaming, "The sun is going to rise tomorrow." People who are
convinced of their own positions don't need to pee on everyone else's.
This author is a fool - and a rude one at that ...

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Tim Daneliuk
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