Chula Vista

Feeding the paranoia and fear. Thumbs up Donald.

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“The fact that we live at the bottom of a deep gravity well,
on the surface of a gas covered planet going around a nuclear fireball 90 million miles away
and think this to be normal is obviously some indication of how skewed our perspective tends to be.”

Chula Vista

Good lord. Samantha Bee is tearing the **** out of Trump brilliantly right now on the tube. Half comedy and half total truth. I love her.

An older bit:

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“The fact that we live at the bottom of a deep gravity well,
on the surface of a gas covered planet going around a nuclear fireball 90 million miles away
and think this to be normal is obviously some indication of how skewed our perspective tends to be.”

riseagainstrocks

Matthew 5:17 [Jesus speaking]

"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them."

This is an old argument and unfortunately is not one I think holds much water. But it's actually illustrative of the larger point, that the overwhelming majority of religious people are not slavishly devoted to every word in their holy book. Part of the reason I'm not religious is the cognitive dissonance displayed there. It's either written/directly revealed by God or it's not.

Regardless, the majority of the alt-right's claims regarding Islam are provably false. And the ones that aren't (invocations to kill nonbelievers, the superiority of Islam over other faiths, Islamic eschatology) are found in Christianity. Since most alt-right proponents were raised as Christians or at least have been exposed to the faith and it's adherents their whole life, they intuitively understand that following a religion doesn't mean you follow all of that religion.

Some strong analogies in this thread. elphenor's 'faith as clothing' idea is quite accurate for, what I would very unscientifically estimate, 90% of 'believers'. And yes, TheBatlord, a pair of tennis shoes never motivated a suicide bomber. But as myself and others stated earlier, religious violence is most commonly used by people manipulated by those with aspirations for earthly power. Faith is a powerful motivator, but it's hard to directly tie it to violence. As you said, the WBC doesn't engage in mass murder, despite holding the same level of contempt and hatred for the majority of Americans (homosexuals and homosexual allies). Jihadists and WBC/Identitarians/Sovereign Citizens share the similar mindsets; ones easier to turn against their fellow humans. But, with few exceptions, the critical conditions for terrorist action aren't common in the West.

To reiterate, poverty, lack of cultural diffusion, lack of empowerment, and lack of opportunity create the ground for terrorists. It takes emotional manipulation to make a 17 year old shepherd strap a bomb to his chest and kill dozens of his neighbors. Religion is arguably the most powerful emotional impetus; a fact well known by the sadistic nihilists that lead ISIS, al Qaeda, etc.

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One note timeless, came out of nowhere...

duga

Exactly. People arguing against this seem to think I'm implying Islam has nothing to do with the violence. What I am saying is the fact that Islam is being used as the fuel is secondary to the fact that it is their government and circumstances that are driving the whole thing.

We can have a theological debate all day, but targeting the religion will not fix anything. Emphasizing the religion will only reinforce the negative stereotypes the ignorant and uneducated among us feel towards ALL Muslims. We want people to rally around the right cause, which is to fight the oppressive government currently enforcing this theocracy on their people.

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Confusion will be my epitaph...

Key

Good lord, this thread proves that you guys must have literally nothing else to do.

DwnWthVwls

O please. You love it.

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I don't got a god complex, you got a simple god...

Exo

You play and write about video games.

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LastFM

SUPREME POO BAH MODERATOR EXTRAORDINAIRE

duga

Now that my agency has no clue how to do our jobs because of all these damn EO's, yeah..I have a lot more time right now.

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Confusion will be my epitaph...

Anteater

I run my technology business from home and delegate and work on things wherever I happen to be at the time. MusicBanter is like a bad habit I just can't quit.

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Anteater's 21 Fav Albums Of 2020

Anteater's Daily Tune Roulette

The Batlord

Says the guy who up until a week ago spent his days walking his cat.

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