tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6805190.post6865606478055466951..comments2024-03-01T07:35:49.740-08:00Comments on Come Reason's Apologetics Notes: Is Christianity or Atheism the Virus?Lenny Espositohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04064209669748618955noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6805190.post-83289968551538390422015-11-11T09:52:39.112-08:002015-11-11T09:52:39.112-08:00That's what I thought. The problem is crimes a...That's what I thought. The problem is crimes and immorality such as adultery or rape are being sensationalized or magnified when committed by someone religious or a Christian. Maybe I should start recording all the crimes reported locally and in the world news and present it whenever I hear "religion causes war and violence" thing.<br /><br />I admit that being religious and a Christian doesn't guarantee someone from committing these crime. But saying religion is "THE" cause of majority of the violence, crime, wars, etc. is just unacceptable. There may be lots of it but it's incomparable with the rate of secular crime.Ken Yamamotohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07515611121778914302noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6805190.post-48779961626020995502015-11-11T09:19:39.201-08:002015-11-11T09:19:39.201-08:00Ken,
Basically, 6% of the world's conflicts a...Ken,<br /><br />Basically, 6% of the world's conflicts are rooted in religious conflict and if you factor out Islam, it drops to just over 3%. You can hear the stats in my podcast here: http://apologetics-notes.comereason.org/2014/04/would-world-be-better-without-religion.htmlLenny Espositohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04064209669748618955noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6805190.post-35855049038660115572015-11-11T09:08:41.977-08:002015-11-11T09:08:41.977-08:00I'm just wondering, with these violence being ...I'm just wondering, with these violence being attributed to religion, what is the rate of crime, killings and wars between religion-related and non-religion related or secular. Ken Yamamotohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07515611121778914302noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6805190.post-15283622211079105692014-05-09T16:31:40.080-07:002014-05-09T16:31:40.080-07:00Lenny, I read your article. I will have more to r...Lenny, I read your article. I will have more to respond as I think your treatment was EXTREMELY one-sided. You left out soooo much information you had the opportunity to include. Here is what I wrote in the comment section of that post: I wouldn't quote Schumacher. I've read his stuff. No thank you. We can get into a long discussion about why, but I am not going to offer that up right now. Just understand that in my opinion he should not be quoted in your defense of religion. Cavanaugh, on the other hand, is worth quoting. The problem here is that you quote his opinion of Hitchens' views. I think it would be wise to be include more of Cavanaugh's opinions on this matter---he does not defend religion. He is casting doubt on agreed upon definition of religion. He admits that atrocities are done in the name of religion, he just doubts if that "religion" is really "religion."Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07287099023542449921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6805190.post-3929931492753484342014-05-09T08:43:25.998-07:002014-05-09T08:43:25.998-07:00Lenny, you are right, the virus comment wasn'...Lenny, you are right, the virus comment wasn't important. I didn't word it correctly either. MOST symptoms are the result of the immune system response, as I understand it....I didn't read the link you sent me yet, but I have a hard time believing that my statement has no bearing in fact. Consider the crusades, the witch hunts, the burning of heretics, fundamentalist terrorism, etc..... I will read your article though.....Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07287099023542449921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6805190.post-47186721316918518922014-05-08T21:08:28.579-07:002014-05-08T21:08:28.579-07:00Nate,
Some symptoms are the result of the immune ...Nate,<br /><br />Some symptoms are the result of the immune response. Other viruses directly affect the host. Regardless, I think that's torturing the analogy a bit too much. The main point still stands.<br /><br />As to you claim about religion and war, this is an often trotted out trope that really has no bearing in fact. I've written about this before. See here for the details: http://apologetics-notes.comereason.org/2013/03/does-religion-cause-war.htmlLenny Espositohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04064209669748618955noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6805190.post-36226812871402226452014-05-08T20:10:20.494-07:002014-05-08T20:10:20.494-07:00Lenny, the symptoms from the infection are a resul...Lenny, the symptoms from the infection are a result of the immune response to the virus, not the result of the virus itself (directly). Be careful of the language you use. You cited one study and then made statements like "people of faith are more..." If you are going to use data from studies to make conclusions like that, you might want to use more than one study. If you want to offer an opinion then say whatever you want. Though I am no fan of the methods atheists like Hitchens and Dawkins use, there is a very long history of war, murder, and genocide on behalf of religion that you neglected to mention in your post.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07287099023542449921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6805190.post-63844124215717030282014-05-08T12:16:52.128-07:002014-05-08T12:16:52.128-07:00RE: "Is Christianity or Atheism the Virus?&qu...RE: "Is Christianity or Atheism the Virus?"<br /><br />They are both a virus in that they spread through a population as ideas (that is, memetics). Whether they are helpful or harmful is a different matter entirely.Bernie Dehlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03919318328504104290noreply@blogger.com