Quote:
Originally Posted by PepsiFree
Thank you for posting that. I will quote the end of it because it says something extremely important. By engaging in what you think is harmless discrimination, you're contributing to a society that gives extremists the fuel to murder innocent people. In this case, based on their orientation.
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This is an enormous strawman though. Christians and Muslims are always condemning violent actions done in the name of religion. The problem is that they take the stance that these people are not true Christians and Muslims and have somehow misinterpreted their holy books. That conversation is useless. Once you grant someone the idea that their deity exists and that it's morally virtuous to believe in it and adhere to the commands of these holy books, you don't get to tell them what parts they should accept and reject.
Once someone tells me their actions are divinely-mandated, the conversation is over. Who am I to pontificate upon the character of a deity that I don't even think exists? All that you can do is try to convince them to ground their beliefs in what they can prove logically.
Even if they are truly evil and are just using religion as a crutch to justify their actions, granting them the idea that ancient text is the best way to figure out how we should behave is throwing them the only lifeline they'll ever need.
The good guys and the bad guys are using the same book.