Reply #13: the original message is bad enough

[Megami Kitsune]

I have to say I am very tired of this 'original message being perverted' apologetic for the Abrhamic faiths. Whether Christian, Jew or Muslim the reason for religiously-motivated violence and/or intolerance is always because someone has 'misunderstood' the original message. As a religious person not of this monotheistic background (but having studied the religions from a scholarly perspective) I see the hatred and violence sewn into the core doctrines of these faiths (i.e. the fundamentalist are usually right about their religions).

In truth I find the Hebrew Bible to be just plain sick. I mean 'god' as there depicted kills babies in Egypt, commands the genocide of the non-Jewish tribes in Canaan and basically dictates killing as a one-size-fits-all punishment. The Koran is not far behind. In the Koran's version of the flood myth, Noah actually asks god to not show any mercy to the other humans...and he is the hero of the story!

Yes, to be sure there is much manipulation by religious leaders. But people who read these violence infused religious works have already taken the first few leaps towards killing in the name of god. Seriously how many terrorists have been found with the teachings of Buddha in their possesion after some horrific attack?


Kitsune