Holy Terror: Religion isn't the solution -- it's the problem

[bemildred]

President Bush and the Republicans in the
Senate have failed - for the moment - to
bring the Constitution into conformity
with Judeo-Christian teachings. But even
if they had passed a bill calling for a
constitutional ban on gay marriage, that
would have been only a beginning.
Leviticus 20:13 and the New Testament
book of Romans reveal that the God of
the Bible doesn't merely disapprove of
homosexuality; he specifically says
homosexuals should be killed: "If a man
lies with a male as with a woman, both of
them have committed an abomination;
they shall be put to death."

---

There are now more people in our country who believe that
the universe was created in six solar days than there were in
Europe in the 14th century. In the eyes of most of the civilized
world, the United States is now a rogue power - imperialist,
inarticulate and retrograde in its religiosity. Our erstwhile
allies are right not to trust our judgment. We elect leaders who
squander time and money on issues like gay marriage, Janet
Jackson's anatomy, Howard Stern's obscenities, marijuana use
and a dozen other trifles lying at the heart of the Christian
social agenda, while potentially catastrophic problems like
nuclear proliferation and climate change go unresolved.

We elected a president who believes the jury is still out on
evolution and who rejects sound, scientific judgments on the
environment, on medical research, on family planning and on
HIV/AIDS prevention in the developing world. The
consequence, as we saw in recent elections in Spain, is that
people who feel misled and entrapped by our dogmatic and
peremptory approach to foreign policy will be unable to
recognize a common enemy, even when that enemy massacres
hundreds of people in their nation's capital.

It is time we recognize that religious beliefs have
consequences. As a man believes, so he will act. Believe that
you are a member of a chosen people, awash in the salacious
exports of an evil culture that is turning your children away
from God, believe that you will be rewarded with an eternity
of unimaginable delights by dealing death to these infidels -
and flying a plane into a building is only a matter of being
asked to do it. Believe that "life starts at the moment of
conception" and you will happily stand in the way of medical
research that could alleviate the suffering of millions of your
fellow human beings. Believe that there is a God who sees and
knows all things, and yet remains so provincial a creature as
to be scandalized by certain sexual acts between consenting
adults, and you will think it ethical to punish people for
engaging in private behavior that harms no one.

...

LA Times(Reg. Required)

[HysteryDiagnosis]

1. Sister Mary

Elephant would take issue with all that.... :)

Too bad, but most of that is true.....

[iconoclastic cat]

2. I fully agree with this editorial.

[El Supremo]

3. Those are FUNDAMENTALIST beliefs...

not so-called Mainstream Christian beliefs. Jesus would not put anyone to death. He and St. Paul redefined the old laws. Most Mainstream Christians do not take the Bible literally. It was inspired by God but written by very fallible men. And man has time and time again gotten the message wrong. We are all sinners. And we cannot hope to understand God's purpose for us in this life.

So don't blame religion, blame the idiots who use it for their misguided actions.

[bemildred]

4. I believe that is his point.

That when you are speaking of a religious loon, it is the
fact that he is a loon that has to be paid attention to,
not his theoretical right to religious autonomy. He thinks
there needs to be limits put on the freedom of religion, in
the areas of the public good and one's neighbors yard.

The piece is not without flaws, there are others in it, but it
also makes some useful points.

[dolo amber]

5. Wow

How scary is that?