From: Erik Reuter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Killer Bs Discussion <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: Plonkworthy? Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2003 19:05:06 -0400
On Mon, Jun 09, 2003 at 05:31:49PM -0500, Reggie Bautista wrote:
> Not all religions. And please don't think that all people who call > themselves Christians are part of the same religion.
I could just as well say, please don't call yourself Christian if you don't want me to think you are irrational or extremist. Guilt by association.
Guilt by association can be a double-edged sword, especially when you condemn an entire people for the acts of a group. I'm curious about your answers to these questions: Should all modern-day Germans be condemned for the acts of the Nazis during the holocaust? Should all Serbians be blamed for the recent slaughter of Croatians? Should the British have wiped out the population of Ireland in an attempt to eradicate the IRA? Should the Israelis eliminate all Palestinians because of hundreds of homicide bombers? Why or why not? If not, please explain why these groups shouldn't be considered guilty by association.
In many of these cases, the groups of people committing horrific acts for what they believed were a very large minority and possibly in the majority. Should we condemn everyone for the blood they spilled? These are extreme examples, but I think they're appropriate to this discussion.
*grin* Or to put it another way, should we villify all programmers for the acts of a large, shadowy network of hackers and crackers? Heh.
There are and have been MANY irrational, cruel, and extremist Christians. If it bothers you to be associated with them, then mabye you should not associate with them (where associate in this context means use the same name to describe yourself). Or at least don't be so surprised when people make some judgements about you based on your choice of associations.
There have been many people throughout the centuries who have used their religions to justify horrific acts. By your analogy, modern muslims should start calling themselves something else in renunciation of the terrorism performed by Al-Queda and Hamas in the name of their religion. Why should a minority be allowed to dictate to the majority?
<snip>
But what Fool and William have been writing is far from persecution.
No, it's not persecution. It's intolerant, but it's not persecution.
Jon
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