Dear runner,

Thanks for reading my post. Had you been born of Muslim parents in Saudi Arabia I believe you would be as fervent a believer in that superstition as you are in the superstition you subscribe to.

Dear SteeleRedux,

Adopting a religious faith does not mean having a deep knowledge of the faith or even being observant. The word, religion, comes from Latin word, religio, which means to bind. Religions bind believers together. They can feel a part of something bigger, and their life has been given meaning by that. A petty criminal who has been a layabout now has status. In his view he has earned it by being part of a brotherhood. They are united in a cause which gives them meaning. Shakespeare in Henry V had Henry use that feeling to inspire his troops.

WESTMORELAND. O that we now had here
But one ten thousand of those men in England
That do no work to-day!

KING. What’s he that wishes so?
My cousin, Westmoreland? No, my fair cousin;
If we are mark’d to die, we are enow
To do our country loss; and if to live,
The fewer men, the greater share of honour.
God’s will! I pray thee, wish not one man more.
By Jove, I am not covetous for gold,
Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost;
It yearns me not if men my garments wear;
Such outward things dwell not in my desires.
But if it be a sin to covet honour,
I am the most offending soul alive.
No, faith, my coz, wish not a man from England.
God’s peace! I would not lose so great an honour
As one man more methinks would share from me
For the best hope I have. O, do not wish one more!
Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host,
That he which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart; his passport shall be made,
And crowns for convoy put into his purse;
We would not die in that man’s company
That fears his fellowship to die with us.

continued

continued

This day is call’d the feast of Crispian.
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam’d,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say “To-morrow is Saint Crispian.”
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,
And say “These wounds I had on Crispin's day.”
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
But he’ll remember, with advantages,
What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words—
Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester—
Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb’red.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne’er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs’d they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.

The men Henry spoke of may have petty thieves, pimps or layabouts, but they were ennobled by being one of a band of brothers.

Dear mikk,

Thank you.

Dear Yuyutsu,

Religion is simply one variety of superstition.

Dear ttbn,

My initial post said nothing about Christianity at all. The story of Abraham and Isaac comes from the Jewish Bible. Christianity merely incorporated the scripture of another religion into its Bible. Abraham and Isaac were not Christians. For that matter neither was Jesus.

Apparently you are one of the nominal Christians whose knowledge of your religion is limited, but you see it as under attack even if it has not been mentioned.

However, let’s consider Christianity. Christianity has almost two thousand years of history. Some of the features of Christianity during those years were the Inquisition, the Crusades, the Wars of the Reformation, the Holocaust which centuries of Christian hatred made possible, the opposition to science which Christian authorities felt challenged church dogma, the extirpation of indigenous cultures along with the people who formed those cultures, massacres, expulsions and other manifestations of Christian intolerance. It is doubtful that its record is better than that of Islam.

In recent years Christianity has been tamed by the Enlightenment and the secular state which resulted from the Enlightenment. Unfortunately the Enlightenment has not penetrated much of the Islamic world.

However, you are the one who brought Christianity into the discussion. Not me.

I am concerned with blind, unreasoning faith and regard it as an enemy of peace and humanity regardless of its origins.

//Usually their attack on the God of Abraham, Issac and Israel is a cover to hide their bigotry because they know from this source is where every good thing comes//

So where do the bad things come from then runner? You wouldn't be proposing some sort of dualist theology, would you runner? Because that's heresy.

The new testament is just a collection of stories that suited at the time, it is far from the truth.
Mis- guided and uninformed, and that is the way it is kept. It needs to be burnt.

David, very good posts I can't add anything more. Something I learned from my "Old Man" 50 years ago. "Son, always be careful of a overly religious bloke, he believes god is on his side, and therefore believes he can do no wrong!" True then, bloody true today.
The "Old Man" was not all that educated, but could read people very well.