[MD] So cometh MOQ, what next?

[pholden at davtv.com]

Quoting Mike Craghead <mike at humboldtmusic.com>:

> [Platt:
> 'But you still haven't provided evidence to support your assertion that religion
> is
> "the most destructive force in history." I'm not saying such evidence doesn't
> exist,
> just that I haven't seen it.']

[Mike] 
> Religion is a powerful tool in the hands of power-hungry weaselly bad guys.
> Whether the PHWBG's are "believers" is irrelevant; religion is often their crowbar
> of choice. Because any systematic persecution needs a clear US vs. Them, and it's
> really easy to define an "US" using religion. I would argue that, for the PHWBG's,
> religion functions just like nationalism or racism or a host of other -isms (and
> don't forget Char-ism-a). McCarthy's -ism was communism, but the dynamics were
> similar to Adolf's and Atilla's.
> 
> It's not Religion's fault. It's the PHWBG's. They are the "destructive force," not
> religion. To really figure out which is the most destructive, we'd have to add up
> all of the destruction spurred by religion-wielders, and compare it to the work of
> the nationalism-wielders, and the racism-wielders, etc., all the while taking into
> account that lots of these historical figures managed to use several -isms
> simultaneously... sounds like a fool's errand. 
> 
> As for proof, Platt, I submit that most of the greatest nutcases in history were
> fervently religious. A solid belief system helps justify any given lunacy, and a
> fervently religious person acts largely based upon their religion. And a smart bad
> guy can play religion like a harp. So whether the destruction is caused by a
> religious zealot or a viciously cynical manipulator, in the horse race of
> destruction, my money's on religion.

Yes. If you extend the meaning of religion to any belief held passionately, and in
the case of PHWBGs, ruthlessly, then religion is indeed the cause of mass killigs
throughout history. In that sense, I have often referrend to scientism, humanism,
socialism and liberalism as religions. Belief in God need not be a criterion, as
proven in Ann Coulter's latest book, Godless - The Church of Liberalism.

Platt
 
 
 


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