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Non Muslims can do a lot...Reader comment on item: The Enemy Has a Name Submitted by SecularGuy (Australia), Oct 3, 2009 at 21:56 1. To Peacenik and the many other kind, compassionate, peace and freedon lovers likely to read this post, I say this: As we speak, there are many threats to world peace, but the real scourge that you mention will be defeated from within its own ranks. Those people who seek proper human respect with universally accepted human rights and total freedom from oppression by unelected totalitarian, fascist regimes. The best we can do is give these brave people strong MORAL support, so they know that someone, somewhere actually cares about them and their plight. It will give them the strength they need to rise up and win. In Iran, the protestors weren't chanting "Death to the Dictator" for nothing. Support them ! ! ! 2. To the religious fundies like tovey, stds et al, I say this: To any open-minded observer, it seems a complete waste of your valuable passion and mental energy to run around in circles (like you are doing) sprouting the same old stale religious rhetoric and dogma, feverishly fanning the fires of fear, fiction, fallacies and frightening fables. Have you ever stopped to consider if what you're doing is actually rational? ... or sane? Have you ever stopped to reflect upon what brought you to your current state of mind? ... your anger? ... your hatred? ... your bigotry? Have you ever stopped to realise that if your own children had been born "on the other side of the fence", then they would have been indoctrinated to hate you and reject your beliefs? Do you think this is right? What if you swapped your children at birth and then watched your own children grow up to despise you, learning that hatred from some other god-inspired religion? Well, this is how stupid you look to non-believers. It really has to be seen to be believed ! ! ! Have you ever stopped to consider how backward the entire world would be if there had never been brave scientists who stood up to the religious power brokers of their time, and helped them open their mind and see reason, over eons of time? ... a very long list of people like Galileo and Charles Darwin. As a free-thinking rationalist, humanist, secularist, and therefore atheist, having observed the direction and the path of the vast majority of the rapidly growing godless community (all praise to reason), I say this: Free thinkers support your right to hold your mis-guided beliefs in imaginary friends. We recognise that some people need that, but we deeply resent your attempts to acquire religious followers by force, specifically by brain-washing children from birth, murdering apostates or by institutionalising religious influence in government or by legislating any kind of theocracy or religious law. Religion must be a private, consentual experience. Recently, the most militant of you has become very pompous and arrogant about your world domination aims. That was very foolish of you to do this. Unlike you, we don't want to kill you, but we won't just sit back and let you achieve your aims, either. Neither will your own youth. 3. To the youth of this world, I say this: Have a look at how the religious leaders live and then have a look at how the ordinary people live. It is absolutely obscene that such wealth is wasted on religious leaders when there is so much poverty in the world. This should show you that your religious leaders don't care about the ordinary people (their soldiers). They abuse their position and they abuse your support. Would any of your self-appointed leaders volunteer as a suicide bomber? NO ! ! ! ... of course not. They not so trusting or gullible. You are being treated like fools. No system of belief can remain static forever. That's why the scientific method is always searching for new ways of explaining empirical data. It's called keeping an open mind. Methods that helped a despotic warlord gain power many centuries ago, simply does not apply in today's world. One "Golden Rule" that existed tens of thousands of years before the current main religious beliefs took hold is worth of note... "Treat ALL others the way you want to be treated." I seriously doubt that you would find a free thinker anywhere who would disagree on this one. It's not rocket science ! ! ! We all want to live in peace and prosperity with love of our fellow man in our hearts, regardless of their religion, or lack of it. What about you? Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments". << Previous Comment Next Comment >> Reader comments (804) on this item
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