Nikolai

I am writing a history paper on the subject of the negative effects of religion, and I am looking for a way to back up the claim that all major religions (Christianity, Hinduism, Islam) specificaly say, in their holy texts, to kill the people of other religions (atheists AND other theists). I already got the nessesary qoutes from the bible, but could someone help me find evidence of this in Islam/Hinduism/Others?

clark

Check out <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0879755784/qid=thesecularweb/" target="_blank">James Haught's "Holy Horrors: An Illustrated History of Religious Murder and Madness"</a>. It looks like it is out of print, but you may be able to get it via interlibrary loan or directly from Prometheus Books.

Haught had an article based on his book published in Penthouse several years ago, which was excellent - see some men do read Penthouse for the articles! It documented religous-based violence from every sect imaginable. If memory serves, he ties it in to various commands from holy books where applicable.

Best of luck..

THOUGHTfuly Yours,
Clark

GaryP

American Atheists has a page about the Koran

<a href="http://www.atheists.org/Islam/" target="_blank">here</a>

goody2shoes

Nice thought, but that may not be the safest ground in the world. The greatest murderers of all time were Stalin and Mao of an atheistic philosophy.

goody

Terracotta

Stalin and Mao killed in the name of atheism? I think not. That can of worms has been shot down here before.

Cappy

Who the hell taught you this garbage? They didn't kill in the name of Atheism, even though they may have been non-believers.

You want some real murderers in the name of religion.

Moses, Hitler, etc.

Well maybe not Moses since he didn't really exsist, but your book says he did it. Check it out.

sighhswolf

I noticed the little word play there....of an "atheistic philosophy"...is that the same as killing in the name of atheism or killing in the name of whatever god you are hawking today?
My, my the propaganda sure gets deep here at times
doesnt it?
Could you explain for me just what the greatest murderers of all time means?
And after that could you enlighten me as to what
an "atheistic philosophy" has to do with mass murder?
And After you explain those things for me how would you answer the charge that the greatest murderer of all time, the most famous mass murderer, the father of genocide, was in fact no other than the judeo/christian war god Jehovah.

Wolf



edited by wolf: sorry Nikolai for hyjacking your thread.....excuse me.

[ September 09, 2002: Message edited by: sighhswolf ]</p>

Rusting Car Bumper

For Islam do this.
Pick up the Koran.
Turn to a random page.
Read about 1 page or less.
You will then find prescriptions to kill unbelievers or do other violent things.

By the way, I think its a hard argument to make that the Bible really supports killing and violence toward others as a prescription. Yes there are stories where it happened but to claim it as a prescription is entirely a different matter.

Now of course the presence of such stories does suggest its permissible but thats another argument.

I think its a much better thesis to say that religions can be corrupted to violent and immoral motives if the practitioners are not on guard.

As for Hinduism, look for references to the current "Hindutva" (sp?) in India which is essentially a fundamentalist Hindu movement which has been responsible for religious violence.

DC

Rusting Car Bumper

Actually it can be shown that Stalin and Mao followed a superstitious philosophy which contained religious elements.

The goal is a heaven like state where the State as such isn't necessary. They are working toward that just like theists work toward a heaven. It has the same faults in that one can ask about free will to commit immoral acts in this heaven. (Is there stealing in heaven or when the communist state is achieved?)

Its done by a sincere and autocratic commitment to a set of principles which are rigid and defined. It requires believers to engage in the correct actions and to interpret "dialectical materialism" in practical forms much like a church hands out dogma from the text.

It forms a practical struggle against evil and in this case capitalism just as Chrsitianity for example wants to cut out sin and liberalism.

There are enormous parallels.

DC

Nikolai

Easy. The Bible clearly states that “whosoever would not seek the LORD God of Israel should be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman” (2Chr. 15:13, King James Version) and talks more about it in Deuteronomy 13.