The raging sins of the persecution industry: Unpacking the hypocrisy at the heart of the Religious Right
“Hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye."
— Matthew 7:5
I thought after gay marriage was legalized nationwide by the Supreme Court that we might get a well-deserved break from the “culture wars," but oh, how wrong I’ve been. Instead, it’s open season on anyone who threatens Christian hegemony. Recently, Bill O’Reilly, the meanest, angriest and most unholy bastard who has ever made a living by screaming at strangers, claimed that “secularism" is responsible for mass murder in America. O’Reilly glosses over the fact that religious wars have dominated human history, but if you need something more current, statistics show that 7 percent of the general population self-identifies as agnostic or atheist, while less than 1 percent of the prison population identifies as such. We don’t commit crimes on the scale that religious people do.
http://www.salon.com/2015/09/14/the_raging_sins_of_the_persecution_industry_unpacking_the_hypocrisy_at_the_heart_of_the_religious_right/
By quoting facts and figures you miss the point entirely. The Right wing legitimately believes propaganda is an effective tool. And if you present facts to disprove them, they'll question the source of those facts. It's a lose lose situation.
I didn't write the text. I was quoting from the Salon article. Sorry for the confusion. You're right about the right wing, though.
Lois
Write4U,
Which is the more Christian country today, Russia or the United States?
Didn’t Russia sort of had the Constitutional Amendment power that prohibited religious views in State matters? And how well did that work out?
Point being, there are many laws already on the books that are not being enforced. Enforcement and funding are the political and populous part of the laws. And many of the fixes for today’s problems are right in front of us. Yet, will not be applied do to the human factor. The religious people have blind faith. The atheists are using mostly establishment science. The atheist movement has yet to take a step forward. So what is stopping the Blind Faith movement? Bitching and not understanding what makes an economy system operate and put food on the table and warmth in the house does not help. Everybody likes to eat the fried chicken, but nobody wants to kill and clean the chicken.
I think you are thinking in the right direction, but it is not the scriptures that are the problem. That is like saying the gun kills people. When it is people who kill people. Taking the guns away will not stop the killings.
Why? Countries with fewer guns have fewer killings. Is it Just a coincidence?
LLTo many factors to say we would be comparing apples to apples. Example, Canada has more guns per capita and far less gun violence and is much closer to comparing apples to apples than other countries to the United States.
Citation please about Canada having more guns per capita. I have never heard this to be the case.
Lois
MikeYohe - 15 September 2015 08:33 AM
Which is the more Christian country today, Russia or the United States?
Didn’t Russia sort of had the Constitutional Amendment power that prohibited religious views in State matters? And how well did that work out?
No religious wars?
Other wars, sure, but not in the name of God. Communism does not allow for any other influenciall power butt the State. Nothing to do with religion itself. Worship was not prohibited, just not as an organized practice in public Pure politics..
OTOH, fundamentalist religious countries have been at war for thousands of tears, not in the name of the People, but in the name of God as the Guide for civilized behavior. How well has that worked out? They are still at it and getting worse.
Just read about that poor Iranian boy who participated i an anti-government rally. He just lost hais last appeal and will be "hanged" for political dissent. The reason Communism lost is that they did not replace God with another (economic) incentive.