Exodus 22.18. "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live."

The Old Testament, common to the Jewish, Christian and Muslim religions, has a commandment from God (or Allah, or Yahweh) for His followers to execute sorceresses. Today this would include what are called "mediums", who allegedly talk with the dead, and who can predict future events, as well as "healers" (amateur female doctors) and female Naturopaths. Interestingly, by demanding that these women be executed, God, Allah or Yahweh validates the concept that the supernatural powers that these women supposedly possess actually exists.

As late as 2006 a "witch" in Saudi Arabia was apparently executed for witchcraft. (Saudi authorities claimed that she "died in prison.") But in the modern Christian and Hebrew world of today, God or Yahwey's instruction to execute female sorcerers is completely ignored. Today, within Christendom, faith healers, mediums' Naturopaths proliferate, while "Wiccans" (even Satanism) are now recognised and protected religions.

Any devout Christian or Jew who demanded that authorities execute witches would be considered a nut case. God (or Yahwah's) instruction is completely ignored. However, if today witches were being routinely being executed within the Christian or Jewish world's, and Christian and Jewish clerics were justifying it with the Exodus quote from the Bible or the Talmud, then if you really did consider yourself a witch, a medium, or a Naturopath, then you should be afraid, very afraid.

The Koran instructs Muslims to kill, maim, humiliate or forcefully convert non Muslims to Islam. Female non Muslims may be captured and made into sex slaves. Within the Muslim world today this practice is quite common. The more Islamic a society is, the more non Muslims need to fear and flee. No Muslim cleric is going to advocate that Allah got it wrong and that His instruction should be ignored.

Now, if somebody has a religion who's scriptures instructs it's followers to kill you, and the most devout are doing just that, and they will not criticise or repeal that scripture, a sense of self preservation and plain good manners should compel you to take them seriously.

Najla:

“Hi Phanto – welcome to the discussion.”

I do not need to be welcomed by you. You are not doing me a favour. I am here because I have as much right to be here as you do. Trying to patronise me is not ‘respectful’.

Graham Y:

You point to many things that religious people do to justify the existence of religion but none of them are unique to religious people. People without religion lead moral lives, do charitable works, make sense of life and are happy so there seems no advantage to society in being religious. Human nature leads people to do those things without being told to do them by some outside force.

It seems the only advantage to people who are religious is a personal one. Their religious behaviour gives them some kind of comfort but then so do things like drugs or alcohol or gambling. None of these things work in the long run because they are illogical for the same reasons that religion is illogical.

When asked why religious people do these religious things they invariably point to some teachings or texts which all have their origin in God. The problem is that there is no evidence that God exists so their behaviour is irrational. I think that they invent God to try and ‘rationalise’ their behaviour rather than it being the other way around. Such rationalisations become more and more complex and convoluted the more they are challenged. These rationalisations become a ‘theology’ to the ludicrous point where you can obtain doctorates from some of the world’s most prestigious universities in these rationalisations. They sit alongside the doctorates of some of the most rational minds of our time.

It is this basic need to rationalise religious behaviour which causes so much friction between religious and secular society. Religious people need to justify their drug of choice and will fight for it like the alcoholic will fight if you threaten to take away his bottle.

' None of these things work in the long run because they are illogical for the same reasons that religion is illogical. '

what an illogical irrational rant Phanto. Complex design without Designer, order from chaos, laws of nature without LawMaker, absolutes without God. You have been blinded from rational thinking by your denial of the obvious.

Dear Runner,

«what an illogical irrational rant Phanto.»

Very much so, but Runner, I think we deserve this poisonous and cruel anti-religious outpour.

When I see the collusion between Phanto's secular society and churches and how clergy are purchased for thirty pieces of silver to support the state, I don't know where to hide in shame. As a Hindu, I feel devastated when Hindu temples ask for grants from the Australian government. I can only hope that our Muslim brothers and sisters stay out of this corruption rather than try to become "Australians".

AJ,

Phanto's question was:

“Religion provides explanations for things that science can't”

Such as?"

So I gave an answer that shewed that religion gave an answer where science can't, simple as that.

Whether there are such things as miracles and they happened or didn't happen is irrelevant.
The Church says that they happened so the Church gave an explanation.

One thing occurred to me today after reading comments. The similarity between the origins of Islam and Mormonism. Obviously Mohamed was a lying, cheating, raping, murdering liar but then look at Joseph Smith. All the aforementioned of Mohamed but then lynched by a concerned citizenry!
Wow if only 1300 years ago there were some good ol boys all this mayhem could have been avoided. The mormons saw the light and toned it all down for the public but only after their beloved leader had his neck stretched!
Comments?