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Bangladesh blogger Ananta Bijoy Das hacked to death

bbc.com

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Re: Bangladesh blogger Ananta Bijoy Das hacked to death

#41

Post by [deleted] »

kghose wrote: post #39
themartorana wrote: post #26

Religion, held at any level above personal, is destructive to the larger population, in the long run. There is very little true tolerance from anyone who wishes religion to guide governing. It may be horribly violent attacks like this in Islam, but just as quickly it pushes for mandatory trans-vaginal ultrasounds in the U.S. I may get downvoted, but I fail to see how religion will ever help guide the human race to a…

Aww, you took a news item about Islamic fundamentalism in Bangladesh and put in a comment about gender politics in the US south. This is sure to get up-voted, because you know, Amerika is bad. But just to be sure, you put in 'I may get downvoted'. That was a cute touch. No one on HN can resist that combination.

[deleted]

Re: Bangladesh blogger Ananta Bijoy Das hacked to death

#42

Post by WhitneyLand »

themartorana wrote: post #26

Religion, held at any level above personal, is destructive to the larger population, in the long run. There is very little true tolerance from anyone who wishes religion to guide governing. It may be horribly violent attacks like this in Islam, but just as quickly it pushes for mandatory trans-vaginal ultrasounds in the U.S. I may get downvoted, but I fail to see how religion will ever help guide the human race to a…

How do you reconcile this with the fact that religion seems to be intrinsic to human culture?

>Religion, held at any level above personal, is destructive >to the larger population, in the long run.

Re: Bangladesh blogger Ananta Bijoy Das hacked to death

#43

Post by WhitneyLand »

1971genocide wrote: post #22

MY TIME TO SHINE : This hits so close to home ( my username ), Bangladesh has a serious problem with religious tolerance. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Bangladesh_anti-Hindu_viol... Bangladesh has a population of about 20 million hindus who even if the number seems huge, are a minority given that the country has a huge population. I have been extremely fortunate to have had my dad make the sensible choice of aban…

Good luck to you. I sincerely hope you get the opportunity to work in your home without fear.

Re: Bangladesh blogger Ananta Bijoy Das hacked to death

#44

Post by selectnull »

WhitneyLand wrote: post #42
themartorana wrote: post #26

Religion, held at any level above personal, is destructive to the larger population, in the long run. There is very little true tolerance from anyone who wishes religion to guide governing. It may be horribly violent attacks like this in Islam, but just as quickly it pushes for mandatory trans-vaginal ultrasounds in the U.S. I may get downvoted, but I fail to see how religion will ever help guide the human race to a…

How do you reconcile this with the fact that religion seems to be intrinsic to human culture? >Religion, held at any level above personal, is destructive >to the larger population, in the long run.

Why do you think religion is intrinsic to human culture?

Personally, I view it as a bad product sold to humanity (in the times in which most people were poor and uneducated) for the benefits of few snake oil peddlers that got incredibly rich and powerful in the process.

Re: Bangladesh blogger Ananta Bijoy Das hacked to death

#45

Post by mercurial »

makeitsuckless wrote: post #29
seren wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Yes, but different religions inspire different propensities towards violence in their hosts. It is more complex than that. There is no on one side "good religions" and on the other side "bad religions". It is rather a combination of social and economics factors (education, poverty, exposure to other cultures, frustration, feeling of injustice (real or imagined), corruption, etc) The debate does not really interest m…

That's just the usual faux complexity and "fair and balanced" smokescreen. Any religion that fundamentally doesn't tolerate the existence of other religions and calls its followers to slaughter those who don't convert is "bad religion". Islam is a "bad religion". There is a fundamental difference between the violent excesses of an ideology, an ideology than almost inevitably leads to violent excesses and an ideology…

> Any religion that fundamentally doesn't tolerate the existence of other religions and calls its followers to slaughter those who don't convert is "bad religion". Islam is a "bad religion".

You don't seem to know much about Islam. Let me leave this here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jizya

You can argue that it is discrimination, but if you consider the status of Islam and Judaism during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance in Europe, you would think Christianity is a "bad religion". It is certainly true that in several areas, Islam has been hijacked by violent fundamentalists, but it does not make Islam, by nature, incompatible with other faiths.

Re: Bangladesh blogger Ananta Bijoy Das hacked to death

#46

Post by cygx »

dghf wrote: post #38
makeitsuckless wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's just the usual faux complexity and "fair and balanced" smokescreen. Any religion that fundamentally doesn't tolerate the existence of other religions and calls its followers to slaughter those who don't convert is "bad religion". Islam is a "bad religion". There is a fundamental difference between the violent excesses of an ideology, an ideology than almost inevitably leads to violent excesses and an ideology…

> Any religion that fundamentally doesn't tolerate the existence of other religions and calls its followers to slaughter those who don't convert is "bad religion". Islam is a "bad religion". Well, if that's what Islam calls its followers to do, it's a good job most of those followers don't pay any attention. Even Iran permits Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians to worship within its borders: they are subject to discrim…

You're aware what happens to apostates in Iran?

Also note that there are special allowances made for people of the Book, so Jews and Christians are not quite as bad off as others, theologically speaking.

Re: Bangladesh blogger Ananta Bijoy Das hacked to death

#47

Post by 1971genocide »

WhitneyLand wrote: post #43
1971genocide wrote: post #22

MY TIME TO SHINE : This hits so close to home ( my username ), Bangladesh has a serious problem with religious tolerance. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Bangladesh_anti-Hindu_viol... Bangladesh has a population of about 20 million hindus who even if the number seems huge, are a minority given that the country has a huge population. I have been extremely fortunate to have had my dad make the sensible choice of aban…

Good luck to you. I sincerely hope you get the opportunity to work in your home without fear.

Thanks !

There are a lot a new software startups in bangladesh that look really promising. They even advertised on npm !

http://www.newscred.com/careers

I have been playing around the idea of applying for them.

Re: Bangladesh blogger Ananta Bijoy Das hacked to death

#48

Post by seren »

makeitsuckless wrote: post #29
seren wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Yes, but different religions inspire different propensities towards violence in their hosts. It is more complex than that. There is no on one side "good religions" and on the other side "bad religions". It is rather a combination of social and economics factors (education, poverty, exposure to other cultures, frustration, feeling of injustice (real or imagined), corruption, etc) The debate does not really interest m…

That's just the usual faux complexity and "fair and balanced" smokescreen. Any religion that fundamentally doesn't tolerate the existence of other religions and calls its followers to slaughter those who don't convert is "bad religion". Islam is a "bad religion". There is a fundamental difference between the violent excesses of an ideology, an ideology than almost inevitably leads to violent excesses and an ideology…

Five hundred years ago, Christianity was as bad (see reformation, st bartholomew's day massacre). Things are much better now. Has "Christianity" changed that much ? The core of the faith is still the same. In my opinion, what has changed is rather all the "other factors" : i.e. when you are literate, well-fed, do not feel oppressed or unjustly treated you are less likely to hack your neighbor to death.

Does that make Christianity a good or bad religion ? Or Christianity now is good while it was bad before ?

I understand what you are saying, but I think I am interpreting events differently.

One last point, if you have a look on the last few hundreds years in Europe, you will find, and I probably miss a few religious wars : - catholics vs Cathars and various heretical movement - catholics vs protestants - christians vs jews

And as the ideology changed: - monarchists vs republicans - marxists vs fascists etc ad nauseam.

I do think the "Us vs Them" mentality is a constant of the human experience, and with or without religion of any sort, we will find new ways to be divided (see hooligans, is there something more stupid that dying for your team ?). And I believe that the debate around Islam is just another epiphenomena that will be replaced by something else in 50 or 100 years.

Re: Bangladesh blogger Ananta Bijoy Das hacked to death

#49

Post by themartorana »

notdonspaulding wrote: post #36
themartorana wrote: post #26

Religion, held at any level above personal, is destructive to the larger population, in the long run. There is very little true tolerance from anyone who wishes religion to guide governing. It may be horribly violent attacks like this in Islam, but just as quickly it pushes for mandatory trans-vaginal ultrasounds in the U.S. I may get downvoted, but I fail to see how religion will ever help guide the human race to a…

> I fail to see how religion will ever help guide the human race to a better place. Then you fail to see any progress the US has made in the world at large in the past 200 years. The US was founded on the Judeo-Christian ethic. http://www.godandculture.com/blog/ravi-zacharias-on-a-mormon... > Organized religion scares and saddens me. I know you didn't say you were atheist, but just so we're clear: atheism is a religi…

The U.S. was not founded on Judeo-Christian values. The moral code of "do not kill" and "do not steal" etc. existed long before Judaism. "Judeo-Christian" - a term coined in the 1950s - is an attempt to claim human decency and respect as a recent religious invention, and is ridiculous.

Speaking of, there's an effort to replace "Judeo-Christian" with "Abrahamic" so as to include Islam in that group - would you agree?

As for "atheist" being a religion, no it's not.[0] Reason.com is a libertarian/conservative-leaning publication that has a bias in this game. Their labeling atheism a religion is an attempt to take teeth out of the argument of religion as a social negative. Try using the actual definition instead.

That said, I'm more agnostic than atheist. I believe we can't know if there is a supreme being or beings until they reveal themselves. Since there are 270 or so "large" religious groups and any number of smaller offshoots of those, each with adherents that would tell me theirs is the one true religion, and condemn me as a non-believer with anything from pity to death, I'm going to stay agnostic for right now.

I sure hope there is a god, though. I'd hate to think that humans are the best the universe can do.

[0.a] http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/agnostic?s=t

[0.b] http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/atheist

Re: Bangladesh blogger Ananta Bijoy Das hacked to death

#50

Post by WhitneyLand »

selectnull wrote: post #44
WhitneyLand wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you reconcile this with the fact that religion seems to be intrinsic to human culture? >Religion, held at any level above personal, is destructive >to the larger population, in the long run.

Why do you think religion is intrinsic to human culture? Personally, I view it as a bad product sold to humanity (in the times in which most people were poor and uneducated) for the benefits of few snake oil peddlers that got incredibly rich and powerful in the process.

Look at the vast number of human civilizations and cultures. Have enough been secular to argue it's not intrinsic?

It's really an open question. Some believe that with enough prosperity, education, and safety, religion will no longer be needed. However I regularly have discussions on the earth being 6000 years old with people who have those traits in abundance.

Here's one reference: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1386533/Belief-relig...

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