[ExI] Religions and violence.

[John Clark]

On Aug 9, 2010, at 1:24 PM, Jebadiah Moore wrote:

Me:
>> Jebadiah Moore uses the phrase "not relevant" no less than 10 times, count them if you don't believe me. So among many other nuggets of wisdom we learn than James Madison's observation that "Religious bondage shackles and debilitates the mind" is irrelevant. And Thomas Jefferson's prediction that  "The day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the Supreme Being as his father, in the womb of a virgin, will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter"  is also irrelevant even though it is true.
> 
> 
> Not relevant to what I thought we were discussing: the impact of religion on freedom.

I was talking about the value of religion period, and your claim that the truth or falsehood of a major teaching of a major religion is irrelevant is quite simply imbecilic. 

>  Some of the quotes you posted were simply not relevant to that discussion at all, others (such as "Religous bondage shackles and debilitates the mind") were empty of content, just making assertions, and therefore not relevant to any rational discussion without further backing up.

I see. So to you the idea is so outrageous and you have such difficulty finding any examples of religion shackling the mind that you can dismiss the comments of James Madison as irrational and not worthy of further discussion. I disagree.    

> out of context quotes given only on authority (by virtue of them being from the "founding fathers") are not, especially when they contain exaggerations.

You said the USA was founded on religion, I gave solid evidence that most of the people who started the country were not only irreligious but anti-religious; that is not an argument from authority, that's just proving you wrong. And may almighty God damn me to hell for all eternity if you can show me how those brilliant men exaggerated religion's evil or stupidity.  

>  however, for all their cons, in many places religions are practised with most of the doctrine at an arm's length, thereby reducing the negative impact

So the more weakly someone believes in this retarded toxic waste the better off they are. I agree with that. 

  John K Clark


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