Printable View
Quote:
Originally Posted by Philadelph
Northern Ireland is more of a politial/teritorial conflict, isn't it? With one side wanting independance from Great Britain, the other wanting to remain as part of G.B. The one side happens to be Catholic, the other Protestant.
911 may qualify as a religiously motivated act.
The Holocaust, the Jews are the victims, not the perpetrators. Hitler acted out of fascist/nationalistic reasoning, not religious belief on his part.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Philadelph
Fair enough.
Now I guess I'll have to go see the movie!:hmmm:
Mao and stalin may have not have been religious, but the actions that they undertook were not a result of their secular nature. Stalin and Mao weren't Americans either, but that doesn't mean there's a correlation between being an American and abstaining from mass violence.Quote:
Originally Posted by Seraphim
Anti stem-cell research legislation hurts an uncountable number of people, and that legislation is based on religious ideas.
:OTAre you talking adult stem cell research or "murder as a means to a healthier longer life"?Quote:
Originally Posted by Russel Baldridge
I'm talking about possible treatments for genetic disorders that are borderline impossible to make progress on because stem-cells can't be worked with in a governmentally funded laboratory (= nearly every lab with the necessary sophistication).
Adult stem cell research is not illegal and is showing great results last time I checked!
Sorry, I didn't realize the distinction you were trying to make.
Yes, by stem-cells, I meant embryonic.
There are surpluses of viable embryos in fertility clinics, yet the opposing laws are much stronger when those embryos become the subject of scientific testing.
Many religions consider all life equal, yet most of us have no problem with the large scale slaughter of farm animals. Who's religion gets to choose what is right and what is wrong?
I disagree. I think their actions were based in their secular nature. They both had created their own ideologies and then persued them.Quote:
Originally Posted by Russel Baldridge
I think I see what you are saying with your "they weren't Americans either..." comment, but the point I'm attempting to make is in opposition to Mr Maher's conclusion that religion/religious views are a widespread danger.
If his conclusion was "religion is for kooks and knuckleheads" then that would have apparently been supported by the rest of the film (which I have not seen...) and I could therefore at least agree with his argument in that regard.
Stem cell research has not helped nor hurt anyone as of yet. It has the potential to help if the theoretical benefits can be made manifest. That research is costly and unproven. They should simply use the viable embryoes from which the stem cells would be taken, incubate them into mature cell formations and then harvest the fully formed organs to use as replacement parts.
The Spanish Inquisition was a direct action in the name of religion that resulted in thousands of people being tortured to death because they were heretics.
The Salem Witch trials were a direct action in the name of religion that resulted in the deaths of innocent people that just couldn't prove that they held the right religion.
Stalin and Mao killed people as a way of gaining or maintaining power, not because those people had different religious beliefs.
Neither situation is any more justified, don't get me wrong, I just mean to say that there has yet to be a connection between not having a religion and being more likely to commit murder.
Huh? :confused: :thinking:Quote:
Originally Posted by PhiladelphYeah, it's a damn good thing too.Quote:
Originally Posted by Seraphim