Militant atheists kill 65 trying to impose their beliefs

[skepticscott]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sns-rt-nigeria-violence-update-2l6e7m50fw-20111105,0,7892996.story

At least 65 people were killed in the northeast Nigerian city of Damaturu, an aid agency said on Saturday, after Islamist insurgents bombed churches, mosques and police stations and fought hours of gun battles with police.

The Boko Haram militant sect claimed responsibility for the attacks, one of the worst days of violence since it launched its insurgency two years ago in what it says is a campaign to impose Islamic law in Africa's most populous country.

oops...sorry...my bad...that was some militant religious folk. Again. But we all know that "militant atheists" are just as bad. It's in all the papers.

[MarkCharles]

1. Yup, militant atheists, much worse than any other militant killers because

they didn't even believe that their guy in the sky told them to do it. They did it ONLY because........

Oh wait............you say it never happened? After ALL THOSE MILLIONS KILLED by religious folks over the history of mankind we can't even find militant atheists to kill anyone these days??? What does that do to militant Atheism? Disgraceful they cannot kill a few hundred to get a headline and a statement on worldwide newscasts!!

Atheists are just pussies..wimps! Final answer!


I guess I have to put this up here.. just in case I insulted someone


:sarcasm:

[rug]

2. Too bad they didn't kill more so you can get more guffaws.

"Neither atheism nor religion, by themselves, kill people."

http://www.centerforinquiry.net/blogs/show/atheism_doesnt_kill_people_fanaticism_kills_people/

[skepticscott]

3. The point was not your amusement

but irony over the endlessly repeated meme that I mentioned.

And who ever claimed that "religion" killed anybody? People kill for religious reasons, to impose what they see as the one and only true religious worldview on everyone that they possibly can. Can your straw man factory manufacture an equivalent example involving atheists in the current news?

[rug]

6. Just as well. I was not amused.

And where did you get this?

"People kill for religious reasons, to impose what they see as the one and only true religious worldview on everyone that they possibly can."

Ray Bolger wants it back.

[skepticscott]

17. Uh, by reading the article

The Boko Haram sect killed a bunch of people as part of their ongoing campaign to try to impose their version of Islam on their country. Do you require a further translation? Or to have irony explained to you in small words?

[rug]

18. You must have missed this.

"The conflict has heightened rifts between Nigeria's
increasingly prosperous, oil-rich south and its economically
deprived, semi-arid north"

[skepticscott]

19. No, I saw that..are you seriously saying

that this means that these killings were NOT carried out by a militant group as part of their campaign to impose Sharia law in Nigeria? Please tell me you're not saying that, because that would be a pretty damn silly thing to say.

I know lame apologetics are a knee-jerk reaction for you, but please try to put SOME thought into them before you waste bandwidth.

[rug]

20. Religion, as usual, is a gloss that covers economic disputes.

That's exactly what I'm saying.

I know it does not comport with your knee jerk reaction that religion is the root of all evil, but I prefer to deal with reality.

[muriel_volestrangler]

24. Nothern Nigerians killed northern Nigerians in churches, mosques and police stations

and said it was because they want Sharia law imposed on the whole country. And you think that it's an economic dispute?
Wow, your ability to deny reality, and ignore what people say, is amazing. Do you ignore Christians too, or is it just atheists and fundamentalist Islamists you choose not to hear?

[rug]

25. Do you know which class was fighting which class?

"Northern" is a direction only.

[muriel_volestrangler]

27. A direction which you thought was important

because you tried to claim that this was really an economic dispute between the more prosperous south and the poorer north.

Attacks on churches, mosques and police stations don't look like class warfare; they look like attacks on religion and the law. It's up to you to show that class was actually involved, when the story clearly says it's about religion. You're the one positing something without evidence, so far.

[rug]

29. Uh, no.

The key phrases are "increasingly prosperous, oil-rich" and "economically deprived, semi-arid".

What religion are you going to blame when the water wars start?

[muriel_volestrangler]

31. I'll blame the religionists who say they're killing for religious reasons

as those who kill for Sharia law do now. You still haven't addressed that point - you're ignoring what the killers say. You are creating your own reality, and ignoring the pesky facts.

[rug]

32. Do you also think the root cause of the Civil War was states' rights?

[muriel_volestrangler]

33. Stop ignoring reality, and don't introduct red herrings

You really shouldn't bother posting on a subject if you're going to ignore the report that is the subject of the thread.

Just to cut off your attempt at thread hijacking, slavery is mentioned in more than one declaration of the causes of secession: http://sunsite.utk.edu/civil-war/reasons.html

They claimed the right to own slaves in their states. The Islamicist killers in Nigeria are not claiming that Sharia law should be imposed for economic reasons; they are saying that Allah tells them to impose it everywhere.

[trotsky]

37. Nicely done. n/t

[rug]

38. Correct. And slavery was a competing, and outmoded, means of production.

These killings in Nigeria have far more to do with economics than religion.

[muriel_volestrangler]

39. You could only know that if you took part in them

You are disagreeing with the reporting, the killers, and common sense (why attack churches in your own area, if your beef is with richer people who live further south?). You are just asserting your own version without any evidence.

Conversations with you are increasingly pointless.

[rug]

40. I can say the same of you.

A sign of irrationality is taking from reporting what most helps your preconceived notions.

"They say they're killing in the name of Islam! Aha!" It's stupid. Skepticism is indeed a virtue.

Finally, why do you post to me that conversations with me are pointless? Seems more efficient to simply not respond.

[MarkCharles]

41. I admire your directness!

For some posters, I guess the facts are meaningless, when it comes to defending any religion.

[lg59kis]

34. well said

[msongs]

26. odd how the various groups doing the killing have shared religion as their commanlity ent it nt

[rug]

28. odd how the various ruling groups doing the killing have used various religions

before, during and after colonialism.

[skepticscott]

35. The root of ALL evil?

I've never said that, and we both know it. But in this case, the reality is that the group doing the killing here clearly and openly attests to religious motivations for their actions. The religious motivations were not attributed to them by me or anyone else.

Nice try.

[humblebum]

30. History proves that it doesn't take religion to commit mass atrocities.

Atheists have done their fair share and don't need to take a back seat to anyone.

[MarkCharles]

8. Can your straw man factory manufacture an equivalent example involving atheists in the current news?

I am sure they have enough paid writers, sponsors, people in Congress and state legislatures.

Two (presumably Christian raised) Iraq war vets critically injured by (presumably Christian raised) police on the streets of one of our finest cities, in one of the world's finest meteorological locations on the planet, over the fact that the super rich have made America unable to recover from a worldwide recession faster than other nations, despite incredible wealth, despite massive trained talent, ... we have (presumably Christian) police fighting (presumably Christian) Iraq war vets on our own streets.

Now we have threads where people are saying atheists are threats to America's values, church leaders saying the internet is the enemy of Christian virtue?

If Christian leaders want to take a place of leadership in America, it's time for them to stop waging war on any human being on the planet. Start there, Christians..move on to offering SOLUTIONS, not sermons, nor proclamations of silliness like "other ways of knowing". Accept and embrace science, and give up the foolish fairy tales.

[rug]

16. Right on this page.

[MarkCharles]

5. So this is the "guns don't kill people" argument from a Christian perspective?

Please, just please stop this nonsense you call a philosophy of your LIFE!

[rug]

7. Oh, aren't you the one who complained about insults?

"We report." :rofl:

[MarkCharles]

9. Deleted post, reply to ignored poster cannot appear here.

You're such a victim!

[rug]

11. "Lay off!"

:rofl:

[sarcasmo]

4. Those militant Atheists are at it again.

[MarkCharles]

12. I think they "converted" another 30,000, or 300,000 adolescents just this week...

They are on the march, and they don't use guns, just logic... how can we fight them??:sarcasm:

[sarcasmo]

13. I bet they use Science.

[MarkCharles]

14. NO!!! Atheism is all mumbo jumbo, the only TRUE science is ..

guy in the sky, believe it or die!

(And burn in heck forever for not believing while you had the chance!)

:sarcasm: :sarcasm:

[sarcasmo]

21. Fear the sky being or you shall burn.

[MarkCharles]

22. Isn't life nice? We can say anything we want, (freedom of speech I think) and

be assured by our Christian friends that we will be punished for doing so!

Such a nice religion Christianity is! Compared to any other, it's about equal.

[sarcasmo]

23. Look at the history of religion and count the wars they have started, very scary.

[Speck Tater]

10. +1000 You hit the nail on the head. nt

[NMMNG]

15. The Religion of Peace again?

:eyes:

[Nelson Tondreau]

36. Making a difference in the world... one body at a time