[...]Allow me to point out the old USSR which killed countless millions christians, jews, latvians, gypsies, chechens, etc... all in the name of the state. (under stalin alone the estimate of deaths of such groups is between 8 million and 61 million- no exact count...unlike Hitler, he didn't keep score!) Then we have Pol Pot, Che Guevera, Hitler, Mussolini, ...shall I go on?? And who that witnessed it will ever forget the Tiananmen Square Massacre? Persecution of others because they don't beleive what you do (even politically) is very common.
Bolded: yes and no. Stalin's systematic genocide was an example of forced removal of religion. Stalin adopted Lenin's position on religion in that it needed to be removed in order to construct an ideal communist society. Stalin was an atheist.
Hitler's legacy includes the Holocaust, the one thing for which he will be most forever know.
It seems when someone "beleives" deeply enough in something, it can have the force of a "religious" belief and cause people to commit many acts that are not considered civilized. On the wholemankind is very tribal and doesn't need to cover it in the mantle of "religion" to terrorize and persecute others!
Political persecution is an unfortunate fact of life.
A few examples of religiously motivated atrocities:
- The Crusades.
- The Inquisition.
- Witch Hunts.
- Roman persecution of Christians.
- Islamic Jihads
- Budhist Burma up to the 1850s were still practicing human sacrifice. An incident that stuck out happened when they moved the capital. 56 pure men were buried beneath it to protect the city. When they later found two burial spots empty, they decreed that 500 men, women and children had to be killed or they would have to abandon the city.
When you look at all religions objectively, it's difficult not to scratch your head and say, "wtf?"
Scientology was "created" in 1952 by L. Ron Hubbard, a sci-fi/fantasy writer. The origin of that religion can be traced right to the source in modern history. How did it suck in so many people? How can anyone believe that some character named Xenu brought billions of people to Earth in a ship 75 million years ago? And from a fiction author some 60 years ago??
I have Mormon friends who laugh at Scientologists. Ok, fine. So I asked, "What makes your religion any better than theirs?". Mormonism was "invented" by a self-proclaimed prophet named Joseph Smith in 1830 who claims to have seen Christ appear in front of him while he was on an acid trip in the woods soul searching about which religion he should join. He was instructed by Christ not to join any church then, later, an "angel" pointed him to some trees where a holy book written on golden plates was to be found. And, thus, he founded the Church of Latter Day Saints.
Muslim religion was "invented" by starving, dehydrated, sun-stroked man marooned in the desert so long that was eventually visited and given "revelations" that he transcribed into the book of Islam. Somehow, though, this religion incorporated some strange things like the right to beat and/or stone your wife, cutting heads off non-believers, etc.
Then there are religions that copy from older religions almost verbatim except for time, dates, names and main characters. Take Egyptian and Christian mythologies of the son of God:
Isis -> Mary - both virgin mothers giving birth to the son of God
Horus -> Jesus - son of Osiris/God, both born December 25th to their respective mothers
Osiris -> God
Religions all have their pros and cons, I suppose. But when looking at all of them objectively, dissecting their origins, it almost reads like a collection of fictional Gothic works.
Gangs are a great example of what Shaved was saying. They kill over territory and their concepts of honor and tradition. No religion involved. I believe that emotions make that drive worse....many kill over love too. Add poverty to the mix and things have always gotten ugly.
Gangs and gangsters are a criminal enterprise. Apples and oranges.
this is but one reason I admit to worrying when I see a rise in anti-semitism today. Edmund Burke was paraphrased by Winston Churchill very well: “Those that fail to learn from history, are doomed to repeat it.”
Okay tornado warnings in Indiana in NOVEMBER!!!!
hot and humid today (70's) but with unsettled weather. I thought it was almost winter! 
