They want the world to believe THEY are peaceful...

[thegladhatter]

Cults are NOT = Christianity!

[drunken monkey]

Originally Posted by 03cavPA

Well, how many people have these cults killed, that causes you to wonder about it?

well, I know that the People's temple has a death toll of about 900 way back when, Temple of Love 14, wiki gives 76 for waco, others, not so sure

Originally Posted by bagwanshrirashnish

Cults are NOT = Christianity!

but that's the point.
They would say they are/were Christians.

Cults are an extension of fundementalism/extremism.
They are the minority.
They do not represent the religion.

[blazee]

Originally Posted by 03cavPA

Well, how many people have these cults killed, that causes you to wonder about it?

Do you mean how many people they went out and killed? Wouldn't think that it would very many considering that they mainly keep to themselves and quietly commit suicide.... that is for the ones that the government didn't go in there and kill them all. For the later, the causalities are mainly the cult members, but I guess it's possible a few government officials could have gotten paper cuts while signing all those death warrants.

[drunken monkey]

I was talking about cost of lives in general.

The interesting one to me is the Aum Shinrikyo and the sarin poisoning in Tokyo.
Wiki cites his influences being Buddhism, Christianity and Hinduism.

[ericn1300]

I guess what missing here is the simple explanation that ALL organized religions require an “enemy” and are based on hatred. From the Mayan public displays of sacrificing their enemy's thru the excesses of the Spanish Inquisition and the horror of the Third Reich people have been motivated by hatred and continue to be so.

The Bible is no better than the Quran, they both embrace hatred and violence. Some quotes from the Bible http://www.godlessgeeks.com/LINKS/BibleViolence.htm

95. God displays his hospitality with the admonition: "The stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death." 1:51

96. Two of Aaron's sons are killed by God for "offering strange fire before the Lord." 3:4

97. God repeats his order (see 1:51) to kill any strangers who happen to come near. 3:10

98. Once again (see 1:51 and 3:10) God tells his favorite people to kill any strangers that come near. 3:38

99. Don't touch or "go in to see when the holy things are covered." God kills people who touch or look at uncovered holy things. 4:15, 4:20

100. "And when the people complained, it displeased the Lord: and the Lord heard it." (He had his hearing aid on.) He then burns the complainers alive. That'll teach them. 11:1

101. "And wile the flesh [of the quails] was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord smote the people with a very great plague. "The Bible isn't too clear about what these poor folks did to upset God so much; all it says is that they had "lusted." 11:33

102. More plagues and pestilence sent by God. God repeats one of his favorite promises: "your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness." 14:12, 29, 14:32-37

103. God gives more instructions for the ritualistic killing of animals. The smell of burning flesh is "a sweet savour unto the Lord." 15:3, 13-14, 24

104. The Israelites find a man picking up sticks on the sabbath. God commands them to kill him by throwing rocks at him. 15:32-36

105. Because of a dispute between Korah and Moses, God makes the ground open up and it swallows Korah and his family. And then, just for the hell of it, God has a fire burn 250 men (friends of Korah?) to death. 16:20-49

106. After God killed Korah, his family, and 250 innocent bystanders, the people complained saying, "ye have killed the people of the Lord." So God, who doesn't take kindly to criticism, sends a plague on the people. And "they that died in the plague were 14,700." 16:41-50

107. God threatens to kill those who murmur. To which the people reply, "Behold, we die, we perish, we all perish .... Shall we be consumed with dying?" 17:12-13

108. According to this verse, it is wise to stay away from holy things and places -- like churches. God will kill you if you get too close. 18:3

109. God shows us how to make new friends by saying : "The stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death." 18:7

110. God describes once again the procedure for ritualistic animal sacrifices. such rituals must be extremely important to God, since he makes their performance a "statute" and "covenant" forever. Why, then don't Bible-believers perform these sacrifices anymore? Don't they realize how God must miss the "sweet savour" of burning flesh? Don't they believe God when he says "forever"? 18:17-19

111. Don't get near holy things or "pollute" them. If you do, God will kill you. 18:22, 32

112. The purification of the unclean. These absurd rituals, cruel sacrifices, and unjust punishments are vitally important to God. He even insists that they are to be "a perpetual statute" to all humankind. 19:1-22

[BNaylor]

Originally Posted by drunken monkey

That is also very true; that those who look for something will often find it.

I know it is a very tired argument but it is also a true one that context is key when taking into account a snippet of religious text.

I don't think anyone will disagree with that but people do take things out of context regardless of what religious book or reference it is from. The key is not to take what it says at face value or literally and try to understand or analyze the material and meaning. Anyone can surf the Net to find to bad or hate in the Bible or Koran but it really doesn't mean much.

Case in point and probably one of the most controversial passages is Luke 19:27 out of the New Testament. This is the main one the atheists or non-believers use to advance their opposing viewpoint. The problem is Jesus spoke in parables and this specific part of Luke covers "The Parable of the 10 Minas". So to put it into context you have to read and understand Luke 19:11 through 19:27. Keep in mind this is just one example and I can dig up a lot more but I don't want it to sound like I am preaching to everyone.

But as for these enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them—bring them here and slaughter them in my presence. Luke 19:27

Here is a good article from Time magazine going back to June 2005 which might shed some light on a jihadist in Iraq.

Inside the Mind of an Iraqi Suicide Bomber

Link to Article

[blazee]

Originally Posted by BNaylor

This is the main one the atheists or non-believers use to advance their opposing viewpoint.

I know a lot of atheists, and none of them point to individual passages (including the one you pointed out) as a way to express their viewpoint, but take the Bible (and other religious texts) as whole so that all the ridiculous claims inside can be used.

Why use a girl's finger as an example that she's fat when you can show them a picture of the whole fat ass package?

[BNaylor]

Originally Posted by blazee

Why use a girl's finger as an example that she's fat when you can show them a picture of the whole fat ass package?

Yeah it is ironic that you have to read the religious reference in order to controvert it.

BTW - The Atheists I know won't even touch a Bible let alone read it.

[HotZ28]

They want the world to believe THEY are peaceful...many are, but then again

The only person who matters is Allah--and the only question he will ask me is 'How many infidels did you kill?'

Link to Article (Thanks to Bob)
Now, that pretty well sums up the thoughts & belief of an Islamic terrorists and demonstrates what a twisted & evil greeting they expect after death! I suppose Allah could care less about how many women & children, or other innocent bystanders are killed & mutilated, as long as an infidel goes with them.

These extremists and are very sick people, who do not deserve any legal recourse for their actions, other than a firing squad! I wonder how Allah would judge them if they were executed before killing any infidels, cast them into Hell where they belong.

[mellowboy]

Wow. I didn't even bother reading the whole post but WE did have this discussion before about taking the verses out of context.

[thegladhatter]

When it is all said and done I think it's fair to say that much more violence comes from the islamic extremists than from any other group. The article that started this thread is a good example of the logic many of the nutcases follow.

[mellowboy]

Originally Posted by bagwanshrirashnish

When it is all said and done I think it's fair to say that much more violence comes from the islamic extremists than from any other group. The article that started this thread is a good example of the logic many of the nutcases follow.

Under the view of the media...sure. When you look for something bad, you're going to find bad and when you look for something good, you're going to find good.

[kris]

Originally Posted by bagwanshrirashnish

When it is all said and done I think it's fair to say that much more violence comes from the islamic extremists than from any other group. The article that started this thread is a good example of the logic many of the nutcases follow.

Again, let's not forget history.

[drunken monkey]

You don't really need to look into history to point out the fallacy in his statement.

Take a look at whatever news sites and just search for murders, rapes and other acts of violence and you'll find that acts commited by Islamic Extremists are the minority.

A cursory look at the BBC sites gives me at least 10 counts of murder on the first two pages committed by non muslims.

[03cavPA]

Originally Posted by drunken monkey

A cursory look at the BBC sites gives me at least 10 counts of murder on the first two pages committed by non muslims.

That's because living in the UK drives you nuts. We just take our guns to the range and go blow stuff up.