Religion. The true enemy.

[info being]

I know there are a lot of Christians on this board, and to them I do not apologize because I'm not wrong.

When your worldview is based on a fairytale told to you by an authority figure, you are a danger. Religion is the cancer that is rotting our species.

We have to focus on the real enemy. I don't know how.

[kikiek]

1. I have to agree with you.

I don't mean to offend anyone either. I do believe that religion is a guide for those who wish to follow it. Not a template for a society. That is dangerous. Next is Christian vs Christian. History does repeat itself.

[gnofg]

2. problem

The true underlying issue is that 22% of the voters said values were the most important reqason why theyt voted for the jerk. These people will never vote with us. WE need to appeal to the suburban voter who wants to stay away from those people

[Postman]

3. I agree

Religion is a tool of the powerful to manipulate the weak.

[Democracy Died 2004]

4. Please don't upset Jeebus,

he will send the chimp squad after you.

[Born Free]

8. I hope they enjoy their "Holy war"

They validated the bush cowards crusade against the Muslims and now we are entrering into a "Holy War" that will have no winners, only losers, those are the innocent people that are only trying to get by.

[punpirate]

5. Well, I know plenty of people who...

... are sensible, concerned with peace and social justice and are quite religious.

Narrowing it down a bit, the problem is religious extremism--what we know quite well as fundamentalism. The True Believers are the real problem, I think....

Cheers.

[SiriusLiberal]

6. I must agree

[calico1]

7. Religion is not the enemy.

Blind fanatism is. There are a lot of religious people or people who believe in a higher power (as I do) who are not wingnuts. A little known or talked about fact is that a lot of religious people including Christian evangelicals voted for Kerry and were not impressed at all with Bush's use of religion and politics. All religious people are not the same. Please don't lump everyone together.

[Frangible]

9. Nope -- religion isn't at fault

What's at fault is hatred and prejudice. It was the hatred of homosexuals that decided this election. I am agnostic, but Jesus's message was always one of tolerance and love. The hatemongering hicks are anything but religious or true to Jesus's teachings. God doesn't hate fags. Some small-minded men do. Appearently, enough of them to give us 4 more years of neocon hell.

[Ms. Toad]

27. Thank you

from a religious lesbian, supported by my faith community:

http://clevelandfriendsmeeting.org/issue%20one.html

[Maat]

10. I used to agree with you.

I quit the Presbyterian Church at age 15. I'm now 45. So, I was out of it for 30 years.

Then, one day, about a year ago, I looked at my 8-year-old, and knew that I had to address our spirituality. I knew that I believed in the Great Spirit. But I was no fundamentalist by any stretch of the imagination. I was a proud feminist and a liberal Democrat, who believed in a strong social safety net, etc.

So, I did some research, and found Church of Religious Science. I'm Unitarian in philosophy, and this Church near me is very, very similar.

We honor all paths to Human Connectedness.

Anyway, I found out that one did not have a choice simply between a fundamentalist right-wing version of Christianity and outright atheism.

And, from my point of view, it's not religion that is the problem, it is the members.

I researched my church and pastor so diligently that I knew that my integrity and principles would not be sacrificed by my participation.

Funny, at the same time, my favorite relatives (now not) moved back to the Midwest and became Southern Bapists, replete with wrong ideas.

So, there's a big clash within the family right now.

But women are pastors in my congregation. And we work on sending out positive thoughts of peace to the World!

Hang in there! There's a Place at the Table for Everyone (or there will be when I'm done).

Dawn

[DjTj]

11. Without religion, there would be no welfare, no social security...

Charity, at least in the American culture, traces its roots back to Jesus and the Catholic Church.

True Christians know that compassion is far more important than bigotry.

[Maple]

17. Charity

existed long before Jesus, and certainly long before America

[DjTj]

30. but never was it so so widespread...

...nor so commonly used (and abused) until the rise of the Catholic Church.

You can't deny that religion has a very big hand in the history of organized charity.

[derby378]

12. Dogma is the enemy, not religion

Just look at the Communists in Albania or Cambodia, for example.

[izzie]

13. It is not religion it is how these people are reading the Bible.

They say one thing and do another. They have picked parts of the Bible out to use to do their evil. It self feeds the ends they want just as Bush did with all the CIA information he got. We have another man called Osama doing the same thing.

[indigobusiness]

29. Exactly,,,To pretend that deeper truths or spiritual insights do not exist

is equally ignorant as those that distort Religion to fit their points of view.

Both are nonsense.

[CrispyQ]

14. Thanks for the great laugh!!

I know you didn't mean it that way, but this atheist really appreciats your take on the issue -- & agrees!

"Religin is the cancer that is rotting our species."

Thank you!

ps - I don't care that others find comfort in religion, but don't force it on me!

[LSK]

15. diebold - the REAL ENEMY

[papau]

16. As a platform to political power,"Religion. The true enemy"is not a winner

Indeed our economic view, minority protection, civil rights, etc platform did not matter in 04 as "values" - the idea that Dem=liberal=hollywood/TV=language/sex/anti-religion is what made us lose the election.

Indeed a majority of married women chose religion/values/security over equal pay and the control over their body that is choice.

In 04 20% more gays than in 00 voted for Bush so as to affirm their "values".

In 04 about 45% of both union and hispanic voted against their rights and their economic future so they could affirm their values.

If you want the GOP in power forever, then have the Dems choose a platform of "Religion. The true enemy".

:-)

[ProdigalJunkMail]

18. typical of today's messages here

just keeps on showing the true colors of most on this board...

theProdigal

[Trillo]

19. Religion will never be extinguished, even if it's outlawed.

That's why our forefathers tried to do the opposite by fostering all religions with what's been called 'the separation of church and state', what we know as the First Amendment.

Religion gives people hope for the future. (whether that hope is 'real' or 'imagined' is irrelevant the the central issue of granting 'hope' itself) No other endeavor gives hope to so many. By comparison, the hope that school gives for a better future is miniscule in comparison, that hope is only for a very small minority who appear to me to be very lucky.

[eleonora]

20. If Bush was to campaign against Jesus

<img src="">

[tsuki]

31. I love it.

[readmylips]

21. Religion has always been the enemy in the wrong hands...

as it is right now with the republicans. They shamelessly deface religion and the beliefs of God and the Bible. My sisters-in-law are part of this ignorance. They believe that bush is God-annointed and that people who do not bend at the knee for bush are sinners and demonds, and against this christian country. They also push the 'white' America thing. I'm not talking about uneducated rural dirt poor people. These folks are highly educated, professional people, getting on in age and hate the fact that dark skin people have too much power in this country meant for whites. I'm not kidding. The only two black people my family tolerate are Condolezza and Colin. I've never seen a black person in their house or in their church.

[starbuck6446]

22. not the religion... the perversion of it.... the prostitution of it...

It's NOT the religion, but how it is being manipulated. I feel the majority of the "Moral" voters vote that way so that they won't be seen as "less" of a Christian. My Christianity is questioned every time I talk politics here in SC. If I cared what *they* thought of my faith, I would have caved a long time ago. The main problem is ill-informed voters who are attracted by the "I'm more moral than you..." stance.

[ydya]

23. Religion, when personal, isn't the problem. But,

organized religion is the greatest killer mankind has known. Look up history.
No one has done so much for the cause of evil as two warring religious factions.

[calmblueocean]

24. I hate to tell you, but this attitude will ensure Dems NEVER get elected.

If you hate religious people, you're never going to get them to vote for you. We need to find some way to appeal to them, not alienate them.

[the big fl dem]

25. Do not apologize

It is a fairy tale worldview. So sad.

[lgardengate]

26. I can never agree with this. n/t

[Sequoia]

28. Thomas Paine said it all in "The Age of Reason"

and for that one of our nation's hero's, was scorned by the very Founding Father's who supported him before 1776. When he was on his deathbed a preacher came to his beside to accept Jesus and he declined. Thomas Paine has no grave, his bones are missing. Most Christian's hate him to this day and in some places his books are not to be seen. When I first read that book it shocked the socks off me since it was the total opposite of the fundie upbringing I had.

[Charles19]

32. It is not religion in general it is their messed up interpretation of it

[QC]

33. Now here's a winning platform!

Why lose by only 3% when you can lose by 70 or 80% instead!

Sorry, but attitudes like yours only feed the perception that liberals look down upon the common people, a perception that is the GOP's most powerful weapon against us.

[Liberal Classic]

34. And people say DU is hostile to religion

Whatever game them that idea?

[Moderator]

35. locking...

we do not take an anti-religion view on this site.