Recently Obama made a few comments in a speech comparing the movement of ISIS to the Crusades. Christians were quite up in arms about it too.
Many believers around me were quick to discount the comment because the Crusades weren't a representation of "true Christianity."
(BTW this isn't what God said to do, but he did command Moses to do it.)
Most religions are quick to give their deity glory for things which are favorable to them, and even quicker to blame whatever does not on the human element of their belief system, but here we have a very clear case where the Bible and a more modern event seem to reflect each other very well but believers only accept one as the "true" will of God.
The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria is a self-proclaimed caliphate (a religious state headed by a caliph) whose goal is to unite rule over Muslims all over the world, and in the process rule the world and cover it with sharia law. They commit terrible crimes in the name of Allah. The force women into torturous marriages with their fighters. They've tortured and killed so many people for various reasons which violate their faith.
Are you seeing a pattern yet?
The truth hurts and the truth is that when ISIS burned that Jordanian pilot alive, it wasn't anything the Bible had not done 1000 times over in the name of God.
Religious wars are wars where imaginary leaders call the shots, and whomever thinks they have been chosen by this imaginary leader and is crazy enough to "hear" their voice and can convince others of the same, is a very, very dangerous person indeed.
This is why so many in the nonreligious community view all religion as bad. It can lead otherwise good people to do the worst things imaginable because their faith tells them it is right.
The crusades were a response to hundreds of years of Islamic invasions that had taken over much of the world including much of Spain and threatening to take over the rest of Europe, so while the crusades were not all squeaky clean they were justified in the same way that war against ISIS today is justified.
ReplyDeleteI discuss the other issues in my blog post here under the section 'Isn't the Bible just as violent' http://godorabsurdity.blogspot.co.nz/2014/08/the-quran-doom-and-hell-fire.html
In a nutshell though, Islamic violence is consistent with the Quran and sunnah (the actions and sayings of Muhammad), whereas Christian violence without just cause is against the teachings of the Bible and in particular the NT teachings and example of Jesus.
I would say violence doesn't fit with the NT at all. I have yet to see any evidence of the NT condoning violence. (Jesus is even quoted many times as saying be kind to your enemies in various forms.) What i think is most telling, is not that there is so much less abhorent behavior in the Bible, but that there is any at all. I did enjoy your article though. Thanks for the link.
DeleteRomans 13:4 "For the one in authority is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God's servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer."
DeleteSo there is a place for a just war and righteous violence in defense of ones own freedom. Jesus was not a pacifist although he did show that non-violence is the ideal that is to be sought where possible.
But we are back to another problem you have in your godless worldview - why is ANY violence objectively morally wrong? The fact that you know instinctively that objective morals and evil exists is because you know that God exists, but due to suppressing the truth you cannot justify how anything is right or wrong according to your worldview. You can say that in your opinion things are wrong, or in the opinion of the majority things are wrong, but that is not objective but subjective. You can't get an ought from an is. Violence in an evolutionary worldview is just part of the way things are.
I don't think all violence is bad. Sometimes it's the only answer (self defense and defense of others.) I can justify many things being wrong or right, and I don't need a specific worldview to do it. Not only that, I'm sure there are more than a few command in the Bible you willingly ignore (a shrimp on the barbie?) So maybe you don't need God in your worldview either to figure out what you think is right or wrong. Does God even know what right and wrong is?
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