End prison perks for ‘fake’ Muslims

[decocker 7,198]

Religion doesn't free anyone, it traps them. People will spend their entire life without alcohol, pork, sex, or even their own choice of clothing for NOTHING. They will die and that will be it. All the sacrifice, all the atonement, all just to limit the experiences they could have had in what WILL be their only experience of life.

this is true. but i'm not in favor of picking one religion out of the bunch. imo all religion is a crutch, the ultimate deflection.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

this is true. but i'm not in favor of picking one religion out of the bunch. imo all religion is a crutch, the ultimate deflection.

Yes, that's exactly what it is. It's the "don't worry about how much you get shafted now, the kingdom will be yours" bullcrap that keeps the poor masses in check.

[GandD 5,966]

You don't have to look at Christianity's past, by the way. Christians slaughter people in the present, too. There's the burning (yes, alive) of "witches" in Kenya done by Christians. That's in the now. There's the genocide against Muslims perpetrated in former Yugoslavia in recent history, more genocide very recently perpetrated by Christians against the Muslim minority in the Central African Republic, Christians killing, grilling and eating their Muslim enemies in Nigeria. Or how about the mass slaughter in Rwanda in the 1990's? Though not motivated by religion, Rwanda is 95% Christian. Thus, the atrocities there were committed by Christians - at least that's how these monsters self identify. Let's not pretend that all this hasn't happened in the very recent past and that this isn't happening even as I type this. Sure, we hear not much about it in the daily news feeds because most of this happens where we frankly don't give two sh!ts.

Deflection. And there's a difference between being a Christian and killing someone and murdering in the name of Jesus .

this is true. but i'm not in favor of picking one religion out of the bunch. imo all religion is a crutch, the ultimate deflection.

It's not a crutch. It's a means of purpose and ultimately control. And it's not the only thing capable of this.

[Janelle2002 3,865]

Deflection. And there's a difference between being a Christian and killing someone and murdering in the name of Jesus .

It's not a crutch. It's a means of purpose and ultimately control. And it's not the only thing capable of this.

GandD, on 06 Feb 2015 - 5:49 PM, said:

Religion doesn't free anyone, it traps them. People will spend their entire life without alcohol, pork, sex, or even their own choice of clothing for NOTHING. They will die and that will be it. All the sacrifice, all the atonement, all just to limit the experiences they could have had in what WILL be their only experience of life.

When did you die before? Can you explain to us what happened to you after you died?

[GandD 5,966]

Are you the Antichrist? Religion, like alcohol, or marijuana, or potato chips, can either be enjoyed sensibly, or can be destructive.

Yeah.

[GandD 5,966]

GandD, on 06 Feb 2015 - 5:49 PM, said:

When did you die before? Can you explain to us what happened to you after you died?

The burden of proof is on the person making the claim. I know that someone stops existing when I see them dead. Anything else is speculation without proof one way or another. I hope there's something magical after but there is simply no real proof.

Look, believe what you want. I'm not saying you're wrong. But death is something we all have to deal with in our own way. I deal with it the way I deal with it. It's hard not to infringe on others beliefs when you have different opinions. I will respect your beliefs as long as they do not infringe on mine. Will you do the same?

Yes, that's exactly what it is. It's the "don't worry about how much you get shafted now, the kingdom will be yours" bullcrap that keeps the poor masses in check.

No. You're simplifying it.

[Janelle2002 3,865]

The burden of proof is on the person making the claim. I know that someone stops existing when I see them dead. Anything else is speculation without proof one way or another. I hope there's something magical after but there is simply no real proof.

Look, believe what you want. I'm not saying you're wrong. But death is something we all have to deal with in our own way. I deal with it the way I deal with it. It's hard not to infringe on others beliefs when you have different opinions. I will respect your beliefs as long as they do not infringe on mine. Will you do the same?

No. You're simplifying it.

I'm not infringing, I asked you a question. You responded. The truth is you know no more than the people who believe God will raise us from the dead for judgment. None of us have died and lived to tell. We are still all the same. Some of us see or seek different endings to making us feel better about living or to make living bearable.

[GandD 5,966]

I'm not infringing, I asked you a question. You responded. The truth is you know no more than the people who believe God will raise us from the dead for judgment. None of us have died and lived to tell. We are still all the same. Some of us see or seek different endings to making us feel better about living or to make living bearable.

That's true and I understand that. For me, my belief in my mortality makes me live my life like it's all I will have. But still, the truth janelle, is that I'm not claiming anything happens because I don't know. You would claim stuff happens but have no actual proof. To me, I don't understand belief in anything intangible. It exists in the world I exist or it doesn't.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

None of us have died and lived to tell.

Oh, me! Me! I have had visions of past lives.

[GandD 5,966]

Oh, me! Me! I have had visions of past lives.

General Patton?

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

General Patton?

No, but good reference.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

When did you die before? Can you explain to us what happened to you after you died?

Past deaths can be the most intense and as you can imagine, most disturbing memories. There is a kind of reflex that brings you immediately back to the present, very similar to waking from a lucid dream, so I have no experience of what happens between lives, if that was indeed what I was experiencing.

Edited February 7, 2015 by I AM NOT THAT GUY

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Splitting hairs. You can't have a rational conversation about Islamic terrorism. The right pundits act like every Muslim supports this and the left pundits act like Islam has nothing to do with it. Well it does and not every Muslim is a terrorist.

We never get past it because a lot of people here insist on starting the conversation with bigotry. Islam is a part of the issue here, that isn't in doubt. However people ask the wrong questions and make the assumption that there is something wrong with Islam that makes people do this.

In my view islamic extremism has less to do with religious belief than it does with ultranationalist subcultures and it's the combination of the two that are actually dangerous. Believe it or not, at least in terms of rhetoric what IS talk about is actually not too different to the way in which Christianity is indelibly attached to the founding principles of the USA. Certainly there are plenty of people out there who believe in this idea of manifest destiny - that the so called war on terror was a 'just cause', regardless of how it was prosecuted.

One of the most shocking things for me back when I lived in the USA was when GWB was quoted as saying 'God told me to end the tyranny in Iraq'. This was the leader of a supposedly secular country referring to a matter of foreign policy as if that decision was arrived at by God's will. Why did he say it? Did he believe it? Do others believe it?

We can disparage IS all we like, and I do not disagree that it is indeed a brutal regime that we would all be better off seeing the back of, but I don't think people look closely enough at the ideology that drives their own world-view, because imo it isn't that different.

[LibCampFireClub 635]

Will the REAL muslims please stand up!!!

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Here is a case in point. This is what a State Governor has said in response to comments made by Obama about Christianity being used to justify racism and war.

"The president’s comments this morning at the prayer breakfast are the most offensive I've ever heard a president make in my lifetime. He has offended every believing Christian in the United States. This goes further to the point that Mr. Obama does not believe in America or the values we all share.”

GWB says God told me to go to war, and yet what apparently offends people is someone connecting Christianity to historical events.