Dear Paul1405,

I don’t think matters would be noticeably different if all religions were like the Buddhists. Buddhism was the religion of the Japanese officer corps in WW2. The Sri Lankan Buddhist clergy in general support the repression of the Hindu Tamils by the government.

Buddhism like most other religions is fragmented into various sects. Some of the sects are pacifist. Many are not. If you can see the phenomenal world as an illusion you can dismiss what is actually happening as the Buddhist officer corps of the Japanese army might have done at the Rape of Nanking.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacifism_in_Islam tells about pacifism in Islam.

Christianity has the Quakers, Mennonites and other pacifist sects.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Jewish_pacifists lists Jewish pacifists.

John Ferguson wrote “War and Peace in the World's Religions.” In the 15 he examined he found tendencies toward violence and rejection of violence.

IMHO it would have been better to say “most religions” rather than “the majority of religions.” I find a virtue in simplicity

Most people watching TV any night are watching violence as entertainment. Let us start boycotting violent movies, as children watch this in the home. The average 24 hours there are 40 murders shown on TV.

Dear Josephus,

I don't go to such movies. However, what does that have to do with the discussion? Such movies and the Bible are not fit for children or me for that matter.

Is Mise,

I just remembered that you’re also all for the death penalty!

As someone what was against the death penalty when they were a Christian, do you mind explaining this apparent contradiction to me? I’ve asked others in the past, but I’ve never received a satisfying response. The best response I’ve received so far was that the death penalty was a preventative measure for future offences and, therefore, constitutes self-defence. But unless these people are fortune tellers, and so long as locking someone up for life is an option, this doesn’t really wash.

One cannot be pro-death and pro-life at the same time in such instances.

Ironically, both positions are right-wing, and studies on brain activity demonstrate that gods will always agree with the believer as the same part of the brain is activated when an individual is asked about their own opinions and the opinions of their god. Yet when asked about the opinions of other people, a different part of the brain is activated.

So is god a paradox of both pro-death and pro-life positions, or are the majority of Christians just conservatives and their gods just imagined beings that are happy to contradict themselves because conservatism is generally an anger-fueled and chauvinistic position that contradicts itself?

AJ Philips, If you cannot accept the paradox, should we be incarcerating ISIS rather than bombing them. It would be ideal to incarcerating and reeducating them rather than bombing them. However 30,000 fighters and 3,000,000 supporters intent on killing or being martyred is a task beyond any Union of Nations.

Dear Josephus,

This only seems to be a paradox due to the false assumption as if all men are equal and thus ought to behave the same.

Recall from Christianity that the best are encouraged to be celibate though it is not expected of the masses. Similarly, the best are encouraged to turn the other cheek, while for the masses it is not a sin to kill and/or incarcerate as required for self-defence.