Suggest we write religion with and without quotations.

[wake.up.america]

Being kind, tolerant, generous, non dogmatic is a result of religion. Pat Robertson, GWB and the rest of the kooks practice "religion".

You don't have to be a Christian, Muslim, Taoist, Hindu and the rest to be religious.

The kooks should not be allowed to get away with statements as, "Religious people support GWB.

GWB has nothing to do with religion as far as I am concerned.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

1. Works for me

[Rabrrrrrr]

2. ROTFL! I love it!

Sadly, probably not practical and won't happen, but it is a wonderful idea!

Jimmy Carter is a religous Christian whose strong faith in Jesus Christ informs the entire context of his life.

George 'Fuckstick' Shrub is a "religious" "Christian" whose strong "faith" in "Jesus Christ" "informs" the entire context of his life.

"Rev." Jerry Falwell is a "Christian" "ordained" "minister".

Rev. Jesse Jackson is a Christian ordained minister.

I love the look of it!!

:applause:

[mzteris]

3. so what you're saying is - The ME conflicts

have nothing to do with religion but (some basis) in "religion"...

(as well as $$, oil, power, and generations of "us" vs. "them")

[havocmom]

4. Many are kind, tolerant, generous and non dogmatic without religion

Some people are just naturally decent, some are taught to think of others without being subjected to any religion.

Other than that little quibble, your idea has merit.

[wake.up.america]

7. Religion comes from the heart. You don't need a book or a complicated...

and often contradictory set of rites.

Jackson has religion, not because he is an ordained preacher; he has religion because he fights for the little guy.

[Teaser]

5. says who?

Why can't religion be violent and intolerant?

What is endemic to the character of religion that makes true versions of it peaceful?


Was the Aztec religion a 'religion', given that it required the blood sacrifice of thousands of human beings yearly?

[michaelpush]

6. Robertson

If he had any faith, he would do what Oral did, go to a tower and pray until the lord delivered! Now that should keep him quiet for a long time! I am so fed-up with so called "religious" people who go to church, and then, forget everything that they should stand for! I recently left a church where people support the "war criminal" Bush! What hypocrisy! If anyone should be screaming from the mountaintops against WAR its the so called "religious"! oh by the way, Hi! my first time posting. Thought I would jump right into the water with a "splash"!

[newyawker99]

9. Hi michaelpush!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[panzerfaust]

8. Religion: History Supports That Prissy Quotes Not Required

The fundamental purpose of religion was to allow the few to control the many through the awful power of the Supernatural.

“A tyrant must put on the appearance of uncommon devotion to religion. Subjects are less apprehensive of illegal treatment from a ruler whom they consider god-fearing and pious. On the other hand, they do less easily move against him, believing that he has the gods on his side”
~ Aristotle

A secondary purpose was to divide those who were ‘chosen’ from those who were not, so that those who were different could be slaughtered and enslaved with unblemished conscience.

“Revivals in religion, and revivals in the slave trade, go hand in hand together. The church and the slave prison stand next to each other; the groans and cries of the heartbroken slave are often drowned in the pious devotions of his religious master. The church-going bell and the auctioneer's bell chime in with each other; the pulpit and the auctioneer's block stand in the same neighbourhood; while the blood-stained gold goes to support the pulpit, the pulpit covers the infernal business with the garb of Christianity. We have men sold to build churches, women sold to support missionaries, and babies sold to buy Bibles and communion services for the churches.”
~ Frederick Douglass

Given that these purposes (should) belong to the savage past, religion has nothing to offer the modern would except endless conflict.

"Well, you know what, I knew that my God was bigger than his. I knew that my God was a real God, and his was an idol."
~ Lt Gen “Big God” Boykin

Our ‘salvation’ is in our hands. To abandon this responsibility to the capricious will of imaginary superbeings is to stick our heads in the sand - to abandon any hope for peace and justice.

“I have examined all the known superstitions of the World, and I do not find in our particular superstition of Christianity one redeeming feature. They are all alike, founded on fables and mythology. Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined and imprisoned. What has been the effect of this coercion? To make one half the world fools and the other half hypocrites; to support roguery and error all over the world ... The clergy converted the simple teachings of Jesus into an engine for enslaving mankind ... to filch wealth and power to themselves. ”
~ Thomas Jefferson

[wake.up.america]

11. OK, I'll accept that. But if we write GWB is a religous man, are we not

conceeding that the man has a legitimate claim to the values some of us view as being religious?

[DanCa]

12. Lol it's too early in the morning for philosphy

That's like asking this age old question : I put soda in my coffee cup can I still call it a coffee cup?

[DanCa]

10. What happened to the word Fristian?

I loved it when Randi Rhodes coined that term.