4

5/6/2013 6:30:20 PM

Quote :

" I wouldn't say it's obvious at all, if anything it's borderline racist as it implies that Muslims don't have philosophies or principles and just form opinions based entirely on self (group identity, no less) interest. It's kinda like folks who say blacks just vote Democratic because WELFARE DOLLAS "

First of all, it would foolhardy to do anything more than nod your head inquisitively to a single years statistics. I think you have it backwards though regarding racism. It's more borderline racist to assume Muslims are not the same as other humans, and somehow are better.

Muslims and Christians are just as dumb as each other. The statistics helps demonstrate this based in how wide ranging the beliefs are amongst the different Muslim countries... It's almost as if its not the religion itself, but something else...

Would be good to see pre 9/11 views of targeting civilians, of the religions though.

Regarding atheists, based on my experience, atheists break down to progressives (tree hugging hippies) or anarchists, so those views don't surprise me.

5/6/2013 7:30:52 PM

Quote :

"But everybody knows that the civilians that get killed so often are Muslims, and other Muslims aren't happy about it, specifically because it's happening to people of their faith."

I wonder how much of this sentiment is organic, or fueled by religious leaders capitalizing on othering the West.

5/6/2013 8:17:29 PM

Uh, I think it might be appropriate to ask how Muslims are so otherised that so many Christians are openly enthusiastic about slaughtering them en masse.

Quote :

"It's almost as if its not the religion itself, but something else..."

Wow, this thread turned on a dime. We've gone from "Muslims are driven by their religion to want to suicide bomb civilians!" to "Oh...Christians are even MORE driven to violence against civilians? Well clearly all of this just has to do with cynical self-interest, religion has little to do with it I'm sure..."

[Edited on May 7, 2013 at 10:56 AM. Reason : .]

5/7/2013 10:54:25 AM

Quote :

"Uh, I think it might be appropriate to ask how Muslims are so otherised that so many Christians are openly enthusiastic about slaughtering them en masse. "

Definitely agreed.

5/7/2013 1:16:45 PM

^I definitely agree as well.

^^My bad. I didn't realize you were arguing with someone who claimed the nature of Islam made its followers bigger on killing than others. Within that argument, your charts are clearly compelling.

It's kind of a silly argument though since it has no practical implications. Even if you could lump people together in these giant faith groups and somehow determine that one is angrier/more prone to violence than another...there's nothing we could do with that knowledge.

[Edited on May 7, 2013 at 11:01 PM. Reason : ]

5/7/2013 10:55:22 PM

A point that has come to me though is that considering the recent execution of atheists in Pakistan and Bangladesh, and the general treatment of apostates in Islamist states.....the "othering" of the West surely isn't due solely due to Christianity.

5/7/2013 11:45:27 PM

I'm sure there's a more approriate thread for this, but I'm gonna put it here

http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/12/living/pew-religion-study/index.html

Quote :

"Christian life is a set of sacred traditions -- an unbroken circle, in the words of an old hymn -- connecting generations of Sunday school stories, youth ministry morals and family gatherings sanctified by prayer. In modern America, that circle may not be completely severed, but it is wobbly and severely bent, according to a new landmark study conducted by the Pew Research Center. Released Tuesday, the survey of 35,000 American adults shows the Christian percentage of the population dropping precipitously, to 70.6%. In 2007, the last time Pew conducted a similar survey, 78.4% of American adults called themselves Christian. In the meantime, almost every major branch of Christianity in the United States has lost a significant number of members, Pew found, mainly because millennials are leaving the fold. Nearly one-third of millennials now say they are unaffiliated with any faith, up 10 percentage points since 2007. "

5/12/2015 12:46:46 PM

that is why we have more earthquakes

5/12/2015 1:55:07 PM

This happened before, and there was a flood. Earthquakes this time around? Possible. Fiery hail would be more interesting though. Who would build the fireproof ark though? Or whatever it would be.

He would probably pick James McAvoy as the next Noah. I could see him ushering in the next wave of humanity.

5/12/2015 3:54:38 PM