"Actually, it's the stoning to death of kids that really get my goat. But if you're cool with that...."
Ahhh. Long time no ping RWP!! No need to bait back and forth needlessly. We know you apply pure rationalism to what you read, and I apply, well, wisdom to what I read.
I'm curious; given you know first hand what the london tube bombings were all about (I followed the threads carefully and appreciated your on the scene reports) and must have a greater appreciation of how life has changed courtesy of the jihadists, and given such individuals who conduct such madness need to be confronted w/ great violence, violence greater than stones ... do you think kids milk fed on rationalism and scientific reasoning grow up to be fine warrior men? And if so, do you have a resource showing us Christians, who seem to produce fine warriors by the bushel, how we should replace the warrior ethic of God, with the warrior ethic of, ahem, Darwin?
Honestly, First Imperative Kantian types don't seem to leave much literature behind regarding why a 'warrior' must fight, and especially why an intelligent rational type should risk losing the chance of passing on his genes fighting an allah crazed nut.
Any chance of letting that wisdom filter apply to what you write?
Most British natives are agnostic/indifferent. Do you think our armed forces are inneffective for their size? Many israelis are secular. How would you regard the effectiveness of their armed forces?
Like all of your other arguments, it works in your head, but fails to engage with the real world. What you don't follow is that observation trumps hypothesis every time.
It hasn't at all, that I can see, except everyone is a bit warier of young brown bearded men with backpacks on the tube.
Incidentally the willingness to die for one's cause does not a good warrior make. Armies full of such people are known by the technical term "losers". The most important attribute for a warrior is the preparedness to make your enemies die for their cause. That's the kind of guy I'd want next to me in a foxhole.