Good analogy, except that if fewer than 1% of Germans were Nazis and Germany hadn’t declared war on us, then it would have been wrong to bomb them. Moreover, it’d most certainly be wrong to attack someone living in America just because they were German.
And finally, one of the worst traits of Republicans is not just how they insist that words are more important than actions, but that words aren’t even enough. So that if Muslims openly denounce extremists and violence, as they’ve been doing for years, it’s never enough. And it doesn’t matter what they say, or how many protests they make against violence, or how many American flag pins they wear while pledging allegiance to The American Way; you’ll always have douchebags like O’Reilly insist that they’re not doing enough and it’s their own fault if everyone hates them. I mean, if there are still people who insist that Obama is a Muslim traitor intent on destroying America, what hope does an actual Muslim have?
Sorry, Bill. But the problem isn’t that Muslims aren’t denouncing violence enough. It’s that you’re a dirtbag working for a dirtbag network that profits by playing to your audience’s worst fears. Yes, there are jerks who insist that Muslims don’t do enough to denounce violence, but that’s on you for encouraging them instead of making them face reality. Blaming your victims doesn’t shift the blame.
Unless you’re asked to tolerate people who believe in things that you don’t believe in, then it’s ok to spread lies about them. Right? I mean, I know many religious people who are good, kind people who would never do to you what you just did to them. But they’re the intolerant villains, right?
Sorry, but a key component of tolerance is allowing that other people can have different beliefs than you and it doesn’t automatically make them a villain. Whether someone is good or bad is about their actions, not their beliefs. And I know many good Christians who do more to help the poor and downtrodden than I ever have.
There are good and bad people in every group, and if you don’t think it’s right to blame every atheist for the actions of bad atheists, then you shouldn’t do the same to other groups. After all, communists are intolerant and did terrible things and they’re all atheists. But that doesn’t mean other atheists are evil just because of what some of them did. You can only judge people based upon what they do, not what group they’re in.
Hey Billo, how many times does a Muslim need to tell you they aren’t terrorists? And why don’t you ask the same of the Irish (IRA) or Germans (Red Brigades) or crazy survivalists here in the US or is it because they aren’t brown skinned?
Billo watched the Paris attacks on Tee Vee of Fox news… does that mean he was there in the thick of the carnage as it happened? You know like he did during the Falklands war in Argentina?
In an exchange with Harris Zafar, spokesman for the Ahmaddiya Muslim
Community, O’Reilly insisted that the only way to dispel the association
between Islam and terrorism is for American Muslims to host a “Million
Muslim March" in the nation’s capital.
…
Get 'em all in one place Billo so we can round 'em up…right? Damn Billo, you are sooooo clever!
Would you lecture a domestic violence victim on how not to get beat? A child molestation victim on how not to get touched, a rape victim on how not to get raped, a Holocaust survivor on how to avoid a concentration camp?
Conservatives are really a special kind of stupid.
No. I can, and should, at every opportunity denounce religion. I can, and ethically am obligated to, attack religions which preach intolerance and hate. In short, I feel perfectly fine attacking Islam. The same rights that allow me to attack Islam, however, allow Muslims to practice it.
It seems that I am supposed to say that good people can be Muslims. This is true, in the sense that good people can be Christians: That doesn’t stop me from attacking Christinaity. I am not calling Muslims villains, any more than I am calling Christians villains. I strongly believe that both religions are, inherently, anti-tolerance, anti-love, and anti-human. The best word I can come up with for these religions is: evil.
My belief that all religion is evil is no different, in pure terms of my right to hold it, from that of Christians believing Muslims are hell-bound. Both my belief, and that of Christians, should not stop me from showing love, tolerance, and understanding to Muslims. In fact, because of my beliefs, I should show Muslims considerable compassion.
Finally, you suggest I am spreading lies about Islam. So far, my critique has been that it is misognyistic and homophobic. I have also pointed out that it is the motivating ideology behind suicide attacks around the world. These are all true. one can, and should, argue that Islam itself can be a religion of peace. In many cases, it surely is. In some it demonstrably isn’t. This isn’t lies.
I agree. You don’t lecture a domestic violence victim, you show them love and listen to their needs. The best way to stop radical Islam is to show love to Muslims everywhere. It is to invite refugees and those suffering to live here, with open arms. The only reason that Muslims are suffering discrimination is because demagogues are attacking them, as @DoctorBiobrain rightly states above.
To a great extent, I agree. Although I am an atheist, I truly believe that the actual message of Christianity is inherently good and is a message of peace. That very few Christians actually follow that message does not mean Christianity itself is bad. I don’t know enough about the Quran to know if the original message is also one of love or not, but I suspect that most Muslims don’t understand it any more than most Christians understand the New Testament. They only follow what they hear their imams/preachers say. That so many Republican ‘Christians’ are saying that we need to reject Syrian refugees only proves my point about Christians.
Yes, and I’ll denounce you as a hypocrite for being intolerant while attacking others for intolerance. And so you admit that there are good Muslims and Christians, yet insist on attacking all religious people. Seriously, you sound exactly like the “love the sinner but hate the sin” Christians who attack gays while pretending they’re not. But…we’re not morons and can read their words for what they’re really saying, just as we can see through your charade as well. I’m not sure who you’re trying to fool by saying you’re only attacking religion and not religious people, but it’s definitely not working on me.
Because in reality, religion can be good or bad. Some people use their religion to justify doing bad things, while others use it to justify good deeds, including helping the poor and refugees. And the correct move is to denounce the bad people while praising the good ones, regardless of their beliefs. You say that religion is “a force for intolerance and hate.” And that’s the lie I’m addressing. The truth is that people do good or bad things regardless of their religion, which is why there are intolerant and hateful atheists in this world. But that’s not the fault of atheism, just as religion isn’t to blame for religious bigots.
Religious people might rationalize their hate by pretending their god makes them do it, but in reality, the reason they believe in a hateful god is because they’re already hateful. And so they’ve created their god in their own image, and even if they were secular, they’d still be intolerant and hateful. And I know that because I’ve dealt with libertarian atheists who hate gays and minorities. And similarly, there are Christians and Muslims who believe in a loving god and are more tolerant of you than you are of them. That’s why you need to judge people based upon what they do, and not what group they’re in.
I am not being hypocritical in the least, and your trying to paint me in a corner and put words in my mouth is upsetting. To suggest that I am not allowed to have an opinion on religion is ridiculous and offensive. I do not hate the religious, any more than I hate someone who is ill from any other mental illness.
I will not stop using my brain and eyes when talking about religion. I refuse to respect a belief that calls for ignoring science and reason. My disrespect for Christianity and Islam does not mean I am intolerant. I will defend, to the death, your right to say and believe nonsense. And I will defend, to the death, my right to call the belief in invisible sky daddies insane.
I reread your post. It seems your problem is that I state that religion is a force for intolerance and hate. It is. The fact that many people find peace, joy, and love in their religion doesn’t change that. The fact that many religious organizations do good work does not change that.
Any religion that says that failure to believe will result in punishment, in this life or the next, is an evil force.
