Warp wrote:
> Darren New <dne### [at] sanrrcom> wrote:
>> If your God or Gods tells you to slay people, that's what you do. Go 
>> read the Old Testament, where the Jews torched entire cities and 
>> committed genocide at the bequest of JHVH.
> 
>   It also says in another part that God said to someone to chop some wood
> to make a fire. Does this mean that everyone who believes the Bible must
> go and chop wood to make a fire? No, it just means that God said to someone
> to chop some wood for a fire, nothing more, nothing less. Creating a doctrine
> from this would be adding something to the Bible that isn't there, which is
> explicitly prohibited.
> 
>   Of course there are some people who go ahead and create doctrines and
> ideologies from whatever they want, but that doesn't mean they are right.
> It's just a convenient excuse to fulfill whatever their messed up heads
> wants them to do.
> 
Although you are theoretically right, history teaches that things often 
go differently. Take for instance the 6th commandment: "Thou shalt not 
murder/kill". That does not leave open anything you would say. Well, 
(religious) leaders tend to read that as "Thou shalt not murder another 
human being" and then start defining what they think is and isn't a 
human being. Popular exceptions to this simple rule are: homosexuals, 
prostitutes, unborn children, incurable diseased with lots of pain, 
convicted criminals, Jews, Christians, Muslim, atheists ...
Most people see the problem with that, but if your religious leader of 
choice keeps repeating that homosexuals are below dogs and that you 
should treat them as such, you may eventually believe him.
Other examples: Last year or so, an imam met one of our ministers for a 
discussion on integration. He refused to shake her outstretched hand 
claiming that his religion does not allow him to touch a woman other 
than a relative. What about these city councils that do not allow a 
performance if it is scheduled on sunday, if it is not a type of music 
that they consider Christian, or if the poster to announce it is not 
deemed decent enough.
I am afraid that a lot of people in responsible religious positions 
think about ethics and reach conclusions that make it fully justified to 
use your 'messed up heads' phrase. But in stead of sending them to an 
asylum, we back off because it is 'religion' and 'thus' protected by 
law. (This would be where I start a rant on 'freedom of religion' vs 
'freedom of culture' but I won't, this post is already too long).

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