Posted on 11/15/2005 7:11:30 AM PST by FerdieMurphy
Nice compilation. BTTT
Pretty garbled article, but I'll just note that people who talk of humans as parasites can't be called humanists in any sense of the term. Evolutionary theory has taken on a very "Transhumanist" bent, whereby the human species is to become a better and new species through genetic engineering.
You're confusing the issue. The basic fact is that being humanist or not being Christian has historically not been a factor in whether genocide or other atrocities will be committed.
Further there were no plans for Indian genocide -- despite claims by American haters and the fools from public schools who believe them.
I did say indiscriminately. We didn't have a plan to do it, but we killed thousands anyway, likely millions if you count back to our original occupation of the Americas. We did have a lot of people who objected (the treaty that led to the Trail of Tears barely passed), but our Christian majority, led by the devout Christian Andrew Jackson, still passed it and ordered them sent on their death march.
You don't have to be an America-hater to realize we do have a somewhat checkered past. However, unlike Ward Churchill and Jesse Jackson, I believe we should just look at what happened and try to avoid it again, not keep whipping ourselves for it or try some centuries-late reparations.
Too complex by what calculus? How is this complexity determined? What evidence do you have that nature is incapable of producing complexity?
Keep pulling that chain.
You know I believe she knows how to quote mine with the best.
I have trouble believing that there are people who really think like the author. There is enough hate and evil in the world that she really doesn't need to fabricate more.
Where do you get this "we" crap?
I too believe she flatulated verbosity and threw this basic truth out the window.
I'm a PhD too!
No, I'm not. What you said was "We, as a very Christian nation, indiscriminately slaughtered Indians -- men, women and children as Hitler did to the Jews." I am pointing out, we didn't. Not even close.
You don't have to be an America-hater to realize we do have a somewhat checkered past.
If you don't want to be thought of as an America-hater, don't compare anything we ever did to what Hitler or Stalin or Mao did.
The basic fact is that being humanist or not being Christian has historically not been a factor in whether genocide or other atrocities will be committed.
Christianity is inarguably a moderating force on the level of violence. As bad as you think the Conquistadors were, the Rome where Spain has its roots, makes them look like kindergarten teachers.
The Holocaust was the natural endpoint of applying Darwin's theories to humanity.
For example, dark skin in regions where the sun is very strong. That explains why Blacks and those with darker skin have a very low rate of skin cancer.
....and what of the problems besetting the African continent. The poverty, starvation, lack of technological progress. Would you submit that this is a result of evolutionary selection?
Well, I know you believe that evolution is a belief. Click your ruby slippers together all day long, it still doesn't make it so......
What do ruby slippers have to do with anything? I don't follow.
That's too easy (flouridated drinking water) to fit into the Unified Theory of Evil (UTE).
It was the nanny staters (communists) who demanded it be done.
It's only a matter of scale and planning. Hitler probably wasn't the best comparison (but it's the author who brought him up first), but we do have a very close similarity to the Armenian Genocide, as we both had forced death marches, just a smaller scale for us.
Christianity is inarguably a moderating force on the level of violence.
Quite arguably. How the Spanish tortured natives for not bringing in enough gold was not moderate. Christianity has also been the originating cause of many atrocities. Let me rephrase that, it has also been used effectively by bad people to originate many atrocities. And, yes, Hitler even used it.
Communism has also been used by bad people to commit atrocities. You can do anything once you have an all-powerful, all-important figure to serve, be it God, Allah or the state.
I actually think religiousness in the US has helped us in a way. With dual loyalties, to god and to state, it's harder for people to be completely fanatical in their support of the state. And the majority would not enforce their religion if it violated their loyalty to the state. The danger comes from mixing god and state, as there is no internal limit to a theocracy's power.
You are excused from the "we" if you are not American. Otherwise, any country should own up to its past. I'm not saying you should feel any guilt over it or break out your wallet to make up for the wrongs our forefathers did, just understand it as historical fact.
Let's say I pass you a twenty dollar bill. How do you tell if it is real or not?
You could attempt to study every counterfeit variation or mistake ever produced. Quite a task.
A much easier way would be to study a real twenty dollar bill in great detail; one could then easily see what is real and what is not.
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