In Reply to: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: re: caption competi posted by tiempo presente on August 30, 2009 at 11:22:31:

But if Christian's kill more of their fellow humans than those who do not pray at all - wouldn't that make the non-prayers more Christian than the Christians?

By this reckoning you will agree that the non-religious Scandinavians generally are much more Christ-like than we are in Ireland or our American cousins are where religion is rampant?

The Nordics have very low levels of adherence to formal religions and also extremely low levels of actual religious practice as measured by frequency of personal prayer or attendance at services.

But yet these countries much safer to live in. They are also more just and more egalitarian than say the USA or Ireland where levels of religious practice are much higher.

Presumably you agree that a belief in justice and equality is a Christian tenet? Perhaps they are therefore the 'real' Christians in that by any yardstick they behave more like true Christians would be expected to?

Then you have explain those who use the name of Jesus and biblical episodes in Jesus life to justify their genocide. Jesus violently evicting the Jews from the Temple was explicitly used by the Nazis to justify their genocide of Jews. Do as Jesus does not as he says.

I think you will find too that the 'thou shalt not kill' command goes back a little further in time than Jesus. What about Moses and his tablets for example?

Of course all societies (religious or not) have at least some sort of a ban on murder. But then the more religious Christian USA as well as many Muslim and Jewish countries tend to have more state-sponsored violence and killings though - Biblical eye-for-an-eye stuff.

In spite of what you say, the evidence strongly suggests that the more Christian a society is, the more likely they are to be killing their neighbours and generally promoting inequality and a whole range of practices that obviously are unchristian.

The best Christian behaviour is seen where there is no belief in God at all.

Of course when bad things happen events can be conveniently blamed on God and we can wash our Christian hands of blame. The impact of man-made global warming and adverse climate change on low-lying Third World countries, for example: "It's just an act of God - so we can keep the pedal on the metal. It's not my fault - God did it Jesus allowed it to happen."

So the conclusion is obvious - countries that don't pray - don't go to religious services - don't read the Bible/Talmud/Koran - these are very the societies that think more about their fellow man and support each other better than their religious opposites. Non religious societies (and here we are comparing wealthy nations where there is plenty of resources to go around) appear to look after each other better than the equivalently wealthy but more religious societies.

The ability to blame bad things on God is a comfort that religion provides. Jesus and religious practice and beliefs distract us from the real plight of our fellow man. The craw thumpers and 'holy marys' who never lifted a hand to help their neighbours. Without this ability to blame Jesus or God for suffering of others people would have to bear the responsibility on their own shoulders. As a result they do a much better job of watching out for their fellow humans?

I still want the prize - your man with the posters is really saying 'Forget all that religion nonsense and wake up to the real world around you'.