Christianity and war

Sorry to disagree, but I think that's being very harsh on both religions.

I've known many people of both of those faiths who are extremely peaceful and contented beings.

For example: My next door neighbors have been living there since '62, and they are devout christians. They have never looked down upon anyone who is not christian, and could never hurt a fly. The religion brings them faith in god, faith in themselves, and a peaceful way of life.

My girlfriend is sufi muslim, and she's never used her religion to look down upon anyone or anything. It's simply a way of spiritual connection.

Just because these books sometimes have bad preachings does not mean in any way that the followers worship and live by every word of it. Religious people are very capable of independant thought.

Look at you, you're saying that the followers of these religions, no matter what, are following bad teachings. It's a very close-minded outlook and I hope you'll come to realize that people of faith do not always fit into your prejudice of them.

EDIT: By the way, I believe that the Koran says killing is a sin. It also talks about how to respect women, and how to peacefully deal with quarrels with them. I also believe that christians claim killing is a sin as well.

Have you read the books that you have quoted from?

 

I'm trying to make sense of your arguments:

You were musing about what would happen if mankind had been atheist. I was saying we've actually had real life experience with significan chunks of mankind being under atheist control, under Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot, and it was pretty violent and oppressive. I also pointed out that most wars had nothing to do with religion. Therefore, I think I've presented some evidence based on actual experience, which I think is usually better than musings.

I don't think everyone was in agreement about the history of religion being violent (some expicitly disagreed with that assessment). But even if they were, it wouldn't make it true. If everybody agreed with Mel Gibson that Jews cause all wars, that wouldn't make it true.

So name me an atheist regime that wasn't violent and oppressive.

You're saying that because we have God on our money, that makes all actions by the United States government inspired by religion? That's one of the most absurd arguments I've ever heard!

So you're talking about your fantasy world instead of the one we know, and speculating that if there had never been religion, everybody would be nice. That's simply a pipedream, with nothing but imagination to back it up.

 

I would, for the most part, agree with okiefreak. His points are well proven, and he thinks quite logically.

I don't think that the majority of religious history has been violent. In fact, I think that most religious people spend very honest and good lives. It's just the bad ones that you hear about.

They are violent because of the actual people they are, not the religion they believe in.

People may and may have used religion as an excuse for violence or hatred. But humans will hate, and humans will act violent. It's our nature. It's our instinct.

 

But we don't have to act instinctualy. It may be human's nature to be violent and war (just as the Chimps do), but we can do other than our nature dictates. We can be better than God made us.

 

a

 

Agreed. This is exactly what I mean. Look at the Bible, look at the Koran. Do they not teach to kill infidels, kill gays, kill people of other religions?

 

a

 

Yeah -- Some of us.

So long as there are a large number of people on this earth, there will always be the instinct of violence.

Not everyone ignores instinct.

As for most of the people I see puting down religion in this thread, they are acting too close minded and childish to converse with. They stretch other people's words, and I'm not for that.

Some of you are hardcore atheists saying religion is wrong. Isn't that the equivalent of a hardcore christian saying atheism or paganism is wrong?

Ofcourse, my argument will be stretched into some absurd comment that I never said.

I have to say most (if not all) religious persons I've met are less hateful, more peaceful, and more open minded than some of the people making hateful comments I'm seeing in this thread.

I hope you all open your minds someday.

 

a

 

Those who blame Cristianity for war have been reading too many history books and not enough newspapers. The last war motivated by Christianity of any significance was the Thirty Years War that was fought between Roman Catholic and Protestant countries between 1618 and 1648. That war devastated Germany, and pretty much ended the tendency of Christians to fight over their faith. I have read the New Testament in severn English translations. Nothing in it suggests that war is an acceptable means of extending the faith.