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Still another death related to terrorism.
And the hits just keep on coming......
Just one story after another,
because there is nothing wrong with Islam. Or Christianity. Or indeed any faith.
That's why those religions that are very stringent and absolute in their concepts and beliefs scare the living hell (no pun intended) out of me.
I mean, how can someone hold on so dearly to something that is just a complex self serving narrative without any substantiation (apart from the case that other like minded people through the ages have also held onto it)? It just doesn't make sense.
All damn (forgive me) religions need to be taken with a pinch of salt at the very least.
It is true of every ideology... but no ideology gets a free pass as religion does.
I would disagree with that as politics and religion both have one thing in common, power and as such both get away with too much all in excuse of faults being covered up because it is better for the greater good. The good generally being self-serving.
It's certainly true that religion and politics get the most attention and have the most impact (for the bad).
However, religion, politics, nationalism/patriotism and family rules/traditions are all very much 'faith based' or handed down through the ages, which makes all of them especially dangerous. Other ideologies (as far as I can tell) are learned and so probably have some basis in fact, but these in particular are sort of default ideologies for most people (they are sort of born with it) and so are deeply ingrained and harder to shake off or view objectively and dispassionately.
But political ideologies are criticized, at least in Western democracies, and nobody is offended if someone ridicules a political belief, whether it comes from the Left or the Right. Now with religions, a lot of people will use "well, that is my faith" as an excuse for holding backward beliefs... Or to ask for refrain from criticism, mockery or what have you.
Don't say that! Politics has become a real shambles, today you meet people with "convictions" you'd only have met in an asylum just a decade ago. All of them vocal beyond belief about their obsessions and deeply insulted when you call em out. Politics is the religion of the pompous classes now.
And yet you can still make fun of politicians in caricatures or in comedy shows.
True. But the number of people who feel entitled to their own form of paranoia once you step on their ideological toes is growing. And especially the whiny, self-pitying sort loves to celebrate their own victim status while doing their best to make life for everybody else just as miserable as they feel. That sort of thing, you seldom get that in a religious context, that's very much a political style today.
Well that is not entirely true. Many epople have been prosecuted or imprisoned for ridiculing their political leaders around the world. Try to raise this argument in North Korea for example...
And religion and religious practice is ridiculed. How paople react varies a lot. Some are badly offended, somebody are not. To claim no religious people can take a joke, while every politician can would be... well... pretty convenient if your objective is to slam religion...
Hence I said in Western democracies, not the world. For North Korea, it is pretty much a theocracy, as their leader is godly. The granddad of their leader is actually an eternal president!
I am not saying no religious people can take a joke or that every politician can. I am saying religions often get a free pass, religious faith is used as some kind of shield against criticism or mockery. I have heard and read a lot of victim blaming for the disgusting murders of the Charlie Hebdo cartoonists.
Sorry, I missed that clause in your post. As for your general comment, I am not so sure there is a major difference. Deeds done as a result of political conviction often get a free pass as well. Acts like the Iraq war ("in the name of democracy") or the Vietnam war ("against communism") are still defended in many circles. And that is just the tip of the iceberg...
Agreed.....and Nationalism/Patriotism as well. The Iraq War was in response to a perceived trumped up national security threat which apparently justified a 'pre-emptive' attack, massive bombing campaign (remember Shock and Awe?) & invasion of a sovereign nation state. It was done as a nation was scared after 911 - with powerful & connected special interests cynically manipulating the frightened mass population under the banner of the 'Flag' for nefarious purposes. Some saw through it, but most did not. As with religion, irrational fear was the driving force for this catastrophic debacle (fear of attack rather than fear of a painful afterlife)
Indeed!
It is a common myth it seems that religions claim their god controls every action or event on Earth. Some religious people believe this, yes, but not the majority.
"defintion - (in certain other religions) a superhuman being or spirit worshiped as having power over nature or human fortunes; a deity."
Whats tho point in praying to him if he is not powerful enough to do anything, why worship a God if they are just a powerless observer, what qualifies him as God if he has no more power than us? how do we know what actions he can control and what actions he has to shrug his shoulders at?
Sit down and talk with some real religious people, some of my best talks were with some of the clergy that had worked in parts of the world were they did Gods work, and gave a lot of help to people really in need of them. They worked in the real world and had interesting viewpoints which made me rate religion for the individual much higher and organised religion less.
Faith and believe are a freedom I might occasionally disagree with but I would defend their right to do so to the death if needed. Even if I think that criminal of morally wrong behaviour should never be covered up in any way even if it muddies your water.
like I said talk to religious people that actually have done the stuff they preached, hold the hand of a dying person who finds peace in his believes and faith. I do not have the answers for you neither do I begrudge you criticism as they are even correct, and it is not too difficult to critise the religions in their outward appearances.
Am I religious, heck no, but I am very fascinated by the role it has played in our human history where a lot has happened due to religious reasons. Even when you consider that people rebelled against the learnings of faith they gave a worthfull addition to humanity's history. I am less interested in who or what God is and what he can do for you.
Before you can establish what God can do, you'd need to establish if there is a God or not. For all comfort and hand holding, human actions have a direct influence over this world, not prayers. You don't treat cancer with prayers, you don't feed people with prayers. Someone can claim he is inspired by God but that gives us zero clue for God's existence or indeed his nature.
Not to mention that a religious person is genuinely religious whether he is good or not. The missionary who feeds starving Africans is no more religious than the member of the Westborough Baptist Church. Or the Islamist who kills infidels.