Frankly Speaking

Eh, i see no difference between islamfacists and hardline republican christians... they both use their religious beliefs as a foundation for their politics. If given the opportunity, I would imagine that neocon christians would gladly behead their detractors... Religion=Hate...

The difference between Islamists and Christian fundamentalists is vast.

When was the last time you saw Christians threatening to behead someone over a cartoon like you did with the Danish cartoons? The examples are many.

There have been instances in the past where the "church" was responsible for reprehensible actions. However, I would draw a distinction between the church as an establishment and Christians in general. After all, there were many Christians who were put to death by the church for such heresies as translating the Bible into English so the commoners could read it.

However, when you look at Christianity objectively, it is responsible for much more good than bad. The abolitionist movement was fueled by the church. There were many peaceful protests in former Soviet Block countries led by Christians looking for relief from the regimes they lived under.

If you go to the source and read what it was to say, the Bible commands us to "love our neighbor as ourselves", among hundreds of other equally horrific commands.

Christians who follow the beliefs of their faith will be the most peaceful, giving, loving people you ever met. That doesn't mean it always happens, but there are idiots everywhere, not just in religion.

However, take a little browse through the Koran and see just what rights you or I would have under Sharia law. An infidel has no rights other than to convert or be put to death.

There aren't many Methodists out beheading people who refuse to convert.

Again... semantics... RELIGION is has, in EVERY case, been responsible for more wars, death, persecution, alienation, subjagation, genocide, and outright HATE, than any other political motivating factor. Please don't say that islam is any more violent than christianity... The current state of islam (there are more followers of islam than of christianity according to recent studies) suggests that a small, infintesmal minority is responsible for all the terrorism that goes on in the world. I am not defending islam (or terrorism), but deriding religion.

Want to end war? OUTLAW ALL RELIGION today, and kill anyone who worships anything more malignant than a cabbage and I can GUARANFUCKINGTEE you that there would be a lot less misery in the world tomorrow.

Christians are just a little more smug (but no less violent... abortion clinic bombings, homosexual beatings, child abuse... its all there if you look). Do christians behead their opponents? Hmmm... in the US? No, but in bosnia-herzogovnia they did, and much worse (again, muslim vs christian, only the christians were the ones chopping off heads and raping the muslim women...)

No, christians are no better...

Heheh... I was just browsing blogsnow.com and came across this fine example of christian good will

http://pandagon.net/2007/02/13/people-who-claim-to-love-jesus-write-me

(Of course, no one can say whether or not some of these are made up since it is a liberal blog... AND *GASP* a non-christian woman's blog at that!)

The religion-less utopia you speak of has been tried many times over history.

The first thing the Communists did was close churches and burn Bibles. I'm pretty sure there were a few people sacrificed on that altar.

The problem is not religion or lack of religion, it's people. There are enough egocentric asshats in all walks of life that feel they should rule everyone else, and are willing to sacrifice anyone and everyone else on their way to glory.

And if pandagon is an example of how wonderfully people act when religion is removed from the equation, you're building you're building a really bad case for atheists. I haven't read the link you posted yet, but I've read enough other crap on that site that I'm very unimpressed with her, whatever she chooses to call herself.

Eh, her politics aside (seriously, I am what I like to call a rational republican... non-faith-based political ideology), I think that aetheism is still a form of religion... or a religion based on a lack of religion as it were.

My only reason for posting that link was to show you that even christians are capable of vast amounts of hate-filled screeds.

Communism is clearly not that answer and I didn't say that communism was the solution... what I SHOULD have said is that there should be a clear separation between church and state... the way the founding fathers of the american republic wanted it (and defined in the constitution).

The problem is you have a man who used the religious zealots to gain office. He is still using them in ways that clearly go against the principles this country was founded on (again, a separation of church and state... prayer in publically funded schools?)

No, christianity, in my opinion, is more dangerous to the american way of life than islam.

PS-I like this blog-built-for-two... its cozy and i can spew my leftwing ESL nutjob vitriol at a neocon without having to worry about the arizona border patrol condemning me for grammar.

lol.

I had you specifically in mind when I decided to do this. Who knows, maybe I'll gain a couple more readers, maybe not. Either way, it's fun.