This is precisely what religions have done


The brutal murder of a journalist James Foley by the ISIS militants has rightly been widely condemned. But in doing so, president Obama was being disingenuous when he said that “No faith teaches people to massacre innocents. No just God would stand for what they did yesterday and what they do every single day.”

Massacring innocents is precisely what religions have demanded down the ages. Just look at the Old Testament of the Bible, venerated by Christians, Jews, and Muslims alike. It is full of one story after another of the murder of untold numbers of people on behalf of their god. Even now, people think that earthquakes, floods, and other catastrophes that kill thousands indiscriminately are all sent by their god with intent to kill.

Obama is right that no just god would stand for such a thing but that is because of the logical contradiction that it would entail. But the evidence from history or nature or from the holy books of religion is that the god they worship is not just.

Comments

  1. busterggi says

    Yet the folks most vocal against ‘barbaric’ Islam also want to execute gays and atheists -- they do not own mirrors.

  2. raven says

    “No faith teaches people to massacre innocents.

    The OT bible is the charming story of the genocide of the Canaanites by the Jews. They were directed by god to kill men, women, chidren, babies, everybody. On a good day, they could keep the virgin young girls as sex slaves.

    What goes around, comes around. They were then overrun by the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans who eventually kicked them out of Israel. The xians persecuted them for 2,000 years until the Germans killed half of them.

    No just God would stand for what they did yesterday and what they do every single day.”

    Oddly enough, Obama is right here. No just gods would stand for all these massacres.

    Which tells you something about the gods and it isn’t good.

  3. mordred says

    Just and kind people tend to have just and kind gods, unjust and hateful people have unjust and hateful gods. Quite often these gods go be the same name.

    I think there’s a pattern!

  4. nothere says

    I couldn’t decide between calling them ISIS, ISIL or IS so I’m just going with “reavers” for now.

  5. lorn says

    “No just God” …

    God, pretty much by definition, cannot be just:

    Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?
    Then he is not omnipotent.
    Is he able, but not willing?
    Then he is malevolent.
    Is he both able and willing?
    Then whence cometh evil?
    Is he neither able nor willing?
    Then why call him God?

    From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epicurus

  6. StevoR : Free West Papua, free Tibet, let the Chagossians return! says

    “No faith teaches people to massacre innocents. ” -- Obama

    Bzzt! Wrong. Islam does that.

    Guess you could dismiss Islam as more an ideology than a legitimate faith although it is probably technically both.

    ISIS-ISIL-Islamic State, Hamas, Taliban, Islamic Jihad, Al Quaeda, the PLO, Jemmahh islamiyya, Boko Haram, et cetera ad nauseam.

    Obama is right that no just god would stand for such a thing but that is because of the logical contradiction that it would entail. But the evidence from history or nature or from the holy books of religion is that the god they worship is not just.

    Very true indeed. Allah is no god and he is certainly not just -- the Mulsims mythical moon god is a stupid and nasty piece of malarkey indeed -- and his bloodthirsty barbaric followers are the the epitome of how evil religions and overgrown death cults really do foul people up making them do unutterably horrendously wrong things for nothing.

    Yet Islamofascism so strangely and paradoxically has so many friends on the Left and on this blog and FTB whilst people who would never chop others heads off and are condemned for saying people who would chop people’s heads off should maybe not be supported. What a weird world it is!

    Protip -- just as with Communism, hating on America and Israel isn’t enough to make a side or group or ideology good -- in fact (yes, fact -- do note that word) , hating on the US of A and Israel generally equals being on the wrong evil side just have having a uniform with skulls on it or supporting criminals over law-abiders.

    PS. Mano Singham and usual suspects -- any thoughts comments or blog posts on this :

    http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-08-23/hamas-execute-palestinians-for-colloborating-with-israel/5691432

    Latest typical bit of Hamas murdering their own people? Or on Hamas rockets killing a four year old Israeli child? No? Not yet. No convenient “pro-Palestine” Israel bashing excuse for that found yet? How surprising.

    Just going to ignore this are we? Hmm ..what does that say about y’all?

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