Same Old Stuff

Submitted by Frank (United States), Dec 6, 2002 at 09:15

Can we please stop this whining about religious fervor? ... People who commit terrible crimes aren't "convinced" to do them by religious fanatics... they're probably pre-disposed to this behavior for other reasons (usually economic and familial). Religious fervor is just as likely to produce good behavior as it is bad. Secularist communities have their own self-righteous nonsense too...

The truth is, the ONLY thing religious groups need to do is say that despite their disdain for unbelievers, they can live in peace with others, etc. Islam hasn't done that yet, so they need to work on that I agree... but we have no right to tell them to do much else, especially change their religion, etc...

I say this because I'm trying to be your friend and help Jews, Muslims, and Christians live together in peace.

---

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".