The atrocity of religious extemism.

Posted: 10/29/05 at 5:38pm

I'm so glad that faith has brought such peace and tranquility to their lives.
Article.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 10/29/05 at 5:39pm

There are no words.

[Bluemoon]

Posted: 10/29/05 at 5:41pm

Unbelievable. Just unbelievable.

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 10/29/05 at 5:43pm

Off to go cry a bit. And maybe have a stiff drink.

Sometimes you read news reports like that and wonder why we even bother to try and make this world a better place.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 10/29/05 at 5:45pm

"...the police with the military will make sure that it will not happen again."

Those words give not one bit of comfort.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 10/29/05 at 6:45pm

This reminds me of the Jehovah's Wintness in Oregon who drowned his wife and three kids because his religion had established that the end of the world was coming in a matter of weeks and he wanted to put them "in a better place".

Just plain sick!

Posted: 10/30/05 at 1:42am

We have a regular contributor to our community who was upset that Mr. Bush was promoting Israeli/Palestinian accord because it didn't fit in with what he accepted as the apocolyptic vision of his religion.

I, for one, am tired of having this as a parameter of human existence. If we are indeed learning and growing at such an exponentially increasing rate, then can we PLEASE get past the need for mythology to assuage our fear of the unknown?

[Elphaba]

Posted: 10/30/05 at 2:20am

Dollypop......that is such an extreme example, and stereotype.......I have JW's who live two houses down. They are nice, respectful people, and have always treated me and my partner like any other neighbor.

Your post, coming from a teacher, really is inappropriate.....

why do we scream when other stereotype gay people, yet we can do it and think it's ok?

Posted: 10/30/05 at 2:23am

Elph - I think the point is that there are extremists within any religious persuasion. And Dolly's example is as indicative of that as any other.

[amasis]

Posted: 10/30/05 at 5:21am

Yes, I agree with DGrant that Dollypop was just giving another example of religious extremism... Not any different than what DGrant did in posting the news article, since it didn't represent regular Muslims in any way.

It is incomprehensible, what happened with those teenagers. I can't even say anything more than that at the moment. Those people are completely insane.

I, for one, am tired of having this as a parameter of human existence. If we are indeed learning and growing at such an exponentially increasing rate, then can we PLEASE get past the need for mythology to assuage our fear of the unknown?

I agree with you on this, DG, and have decided long ago that organized religion is definitely not for me. But sometimes I also wonder how even worse it could be if we didn't have the fear of God to keep us in check. Religion may provide an easy excuse to commit atrocity, but even without it, somehow I think we'll easily find another justification for doing what we want.
Updated On: 10/30/05 at 05:21 AM

[Dollypop]

Posted: 10/30/05 at 8:18am

I want to thank DGRANT and Amasis for siding with me. We are discussing the EXTREME elements of organized religions. I happen to know a young man who is a Jehovah's Witness and he's an upstanding fellow. I've said before that when any religion is carried to the extreme it becomes fanatical and dangerous. That includes Christians, Jews, Muslims...and Jehovah's Witnesses.

Posted: 10/30/05 at 9:34am

amasis - I immediately thought of you when I read this article, and can only imagine how it's affecting the communities there.

And I suppose you're right about our ability to 'find a reason' - little things like greed and jealousy come to mind.

I hope the families involved are able to cope with this - it's a tough one. I think of my 16 year old nephews, and I think my sister would lose her mind.

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 10/30/05 at 9:49am

Organized religion certainly can have great benefits to families during times of tragedy.

Posted: 10/30/05 at 10:10am

brd - that's certainly an interesting conundrum - to have that which is the source of the problem also be the necessary tool to cope with the situation. It's going to be difficult, I imagine, not to further fan the flames of hatred. Ireland comes to mind.

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 10/30/05 at 10:24am

I am not sure whether nationalism or religion is the problem in Ireland. You do not see me wearing green Patty's day like my father. However, I will eat corned beef and drink beer.

[Elphaba]

Posted: 10/30/05 at 11:30am

I wonder how often "organized religion" helps gay and lesbian families.....

Updated On: 10/30/05 at 11:30 AM

[Pinguin]

Posted: 10/30/05 at 11:30am

I just can't imagine living in a place where I'd have to constantly fear that things like that would happen. It's a very sad story.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 10/30/05 at 1:32pm

Organized religion DOES help gay and lesbian families. The Cardinals and Bishops of the Catholic Church may be great bigots, but on the home level the Catholic Church is very supportive of the gay communiry.

A few weeks ago when it seemed that the Pope was going to issue a letter condemning gay priests, our pastor organized a letter writing campaign to voice opposition to this letter. He preached at every mass opposing it. He then went to the Diocese with bushels of these letters and was told by the Bishop that because of him and other pastors throughout the USA, the issue was being dropped.

Everyone in my parish knows I'm gay and once the initial shock wore off, I was greeted with kindness and total acceptance. I even facilitate a Diocese-sponsored prayer group for gays and lesbians.

[Pinguin]

Posted: 10/30/05 at 1:36pm

I find that to be true of the Catholic church as well, Dollypop...it's funny, 'cause there's so much talk about how the Catholic Church hates gays and lesbians, but when you're actually in a church, nobody seems to care.

And trust me, I go to church in New York City, and if my church didn't support gays and lesbians we wouldn't have any semblance of a congregation :0)

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 10/30/05 at 1:43pm

How did this thread go from TEENAGERS being BEHEADED because of their religion to whether or not gays are accepted in religious sects?

[Dollypop]

Posted: 10/30/05 at 1:44pm

They are both forms of religious extremism.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 10/30/05 at 1:47pm

Having to shop around for the church that accepts me seems like a pretty small issue compared to my children being beheaded for their beliefs.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 10/30/05 at 1:49pm

I'm not going to deny that point at all.