The Pope, who quoted a conversation between a Byzantine ruler and a Persian Muslim, in which a discussion occurred on the forced conversion of people by jihad, rather than by logic or reason, is threatened with violence. Let's see, the Pope quoted someone who said that Muslims are violent, and the Muslims react violently by killing, burning and threatening. Self-fulfulling prophecy? Or patently obvious murderous thugs hiding behind a so-called religion? Hobson's choice? I know, lots of questions.

Just think of the money we could make if we started mass-producing "Pope-Effigies." We could open stores all over the Arab world called "Effigies 'R' Us."

We could probably quell the violence if while producing said effigies we loaded them with C-4. Then all of the maniacal whackjobs who go to the burning parties would be blown to smithereens. Sounds like a great idea to me, but, who am I?

Annika,

While I completely sympathize with your pain and abhor the brutality committed in the name of the Prophet Muhammed, I would no more condem Christainity because (fill in the name) shot and killed a doctor for working in an abortion clinic. You can't have it both ways Annie and the demonizing only breeds more hatred. They both felt compelled to act because of their religious beliefs.

AS I have said many times before, until we pass out of this religion phase here on Earth, we will not be allowed to enter the galactic community. Maybe in two or three thousand years people will look back at these needy times and chuckle about religion the way we do at polytheism and the Olympian gods. At least we have progressed from many to only one: The arrow is pointing in the right direction.

The true pox on our time isn't the unwashed heathen of the dirt world, but the smug pseudo-intellectual fucktard in our midst who sleeps under the blanket of freedom provided by better men.

But Annie, it's the Religion of Peace!!! In Bizarro World, of course, but hey, at least it's somewhere.

Not the abortion clinic canard, Straw. Quick, how many abortion peddlers have been killed by so-called Christians? How many abortion clinics bombed? These Islamo-fascists kill 10 times more people in an afternoon in Afghanistan than any Christians have abortion doctors. You have tossed out that comment before. It's old, but, more importantly, it's absurd. Why do you always fall back on your pathetic moral relativism?

yah but Strawman. when that dude shot the abortion doctor it was something that rarely happens... worldwide. and he was caught, thrown in jail, and where is he now???!

But when someone makes the mistake of saying something that might be construed as possibly negative about the moslem religion whether it was intended as an insult or not, a violent reaction worldwide is not a surprise to anybody. In fact, it is expected.

You can say the Pope should not have included that quote, which he should have known would be taken out of context, and I agree totally. But there's something seriously wrong when the entire non-moslem world must walk on eggshells around these people.

oh, and, p. fucking s.

"AS I have said many times before, until we pass out of this religion phase here on Earth, we will not be allowed to enter the galactic community"

Oh really? I was thinking that the atheist utopias of Mao and Stalin would be excellent examples of your New World Order without religion. You atheist worldview is responsible for more slaughter and depravity than any religious doctrine - even more than this current crop of sick Islamist bastards.

As Annie mentions above, if you want to make the claim that the Pope made a bad PR move, then fine; you are right. If you want to say that the Pope should have more to say about current Islamo-fascism, then fine; you are right. But don't pull the silly moral relativism/all religion is equally bad crap. And please don't give us the fucking retarded John Lennon if there were no religion line of crap. The 20th century showed us exactly what happens when that worldview is allowed a foothold.

p.p.s what the fuck is the "gallatic community?" I'll have to keep an ear out to determine if Rosie O' picks up on that gem. Perfecf left-wing slogan: Sounds kinda nice and means absolutely nothing.

"what the fuck is the 'gallatic community?'"

I saw him use that phrase at Moxie's a couple years ago. Basically, we can't cure AIDS, have world peace, make soylent green, or build the Starship Enterprise until we became atheist or something.

Oh you idiots.

Its a metaphor you dumb fucks, for a time in the FUTURE when I feel mankind will have tossed off the blanket of religion, confronted his mortality and the questions that may remain unaswered by that time with out bowing and scraping to some higer idea of existance and someone elses plan. Mankind will do itself some good when we are willing to accept the reality that we are it! And contained within homo sapiens is all that is necessary for life to flouriish and prosper on this temporal orb.

Talk about canards blu, athiests and atheism was not responsible of the canage of Stalin or Mao, just as Christianity was not responsible for the carnage of Hitler. Mall rats would laugh at you if you put forth that kind of thinking.

And where do you get off telling me I am soft on the Islmist crazies. For ten years I have told thoses who would listen that this would be the biggest problem the civilizations of earth would face in the next 25-50 years.

Abortion bombers/shooters are not prevalent and our society brings them to justice, not our religion. Shooters of nuns or filmakers go free because the civil government is incapable for the most part of connteracting the force of of the religious community. To a lesser degree that goes on here. Look at that stupid bill brought up today to remove the loser pays rule in establishment cases. Religion infiltrating civil government.

I am not a relativist. You are. I think ALL killing is horrible and that done in the name of ones god or prophet particulary heinous. I don't equivicate about how they do it more often and don't get caught. Murder is murder.

"our society brings them to justice, not our religion"

Our society and its laws are derived from our founding Christian faith. Learn a little bit about Western Civilization and the founding of your country. It's interesting stuff. Really. It will require reading, however. So, if you get a headache, just take a break. It gets easier the more you practice.

Christianity was never an important element of Hitler's Germany. Atheism, however, is a fundamental principle of communism - and it was rigorously applied under Stalin and Mao. The mall rats in whom you place so much faith probably couldn't tell you much about either man, so they might buy into your history re-write. I won't. I know you love to make excuses for the dirty history of communism - whether it's practiced by Castro or Mao, but the facts always get in your way

I never said you were "soft" on the sub-humans - just that you are willing to equate crimes that rarely ever occur with crimes that occur on a daily basis; that you are willing to say that Christian culture inspires that same death-cult that Islam does. Propounding such crap is silly because it is so easily refuted by the evidence.

You're my boy, Blu!

Ooops...'lest you're a woman.

Blu, Annika,

Sorry for my outburst at the beginning of the last post. You know I only have love in my heart.

Blu, I don't think the teachings of Christianity any more than those of Islam or Judaism or Confucism are instructing people to be hateful, intolerant, murderous etc. I do think however, that, like your belief that Article 3 of the GC allows for to much interpretation to be useful, that scripture is erratic and inconsistent and becomes all things to all people. Clear minds usually do OK with it and cloudy ones do not.

To say that atheism was a fundamental tenet of communism is I think an exaggeration in principle (yes I know what Marx said but I also think they were realists so that by applying subtle and consistent pressure to reduce religious practices and removing houses of worship that in a few generations religion would disappear) and certainly in practice. To make some kind of equation that accounts for differences in motive for massive human tragedy out of the statement that "religion did not play to important a role in Germany" and your speculation about how important Atheism was to the Communists is worthy of my mall rat logicians. It is just a silly piece of speculative psychohistory not worthy of Harry Selden's attention.

No worries, Straw. Sometimes things get heated in a debate. Human nature and all that jazz.