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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

#61

Post by lake99 »

themartorana wrote: post #49
notdonspaulding wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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?…

> Reason.com is a libertarian/conservative-leaning publication that has a bias in this game.

No, that was an article by one of their religious-leaning members. Other atheist-leaning members often write articles that are more friendly towards atheists/atheism, and they don't claim atheism is a religion.

See the range here: https://reason.com/tags/atheism

Re: Bangladesh blogger Ananta Bijoy Das hacked to death

#62

Post by davidw »

probably_wrong wrote: post #60
ramblerman wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is it taboo to mock a religion? I'm genuinely curious about the downvotes.

It goes against HN's commenting policy of putting arguments above insults. I also think it's not productive, does not lead to a productive discussion, and displays gratuitous negativity.

If the conversation is mostly about religion, the article is probably off-topic.

Re: Bangladesh blogger Ananta Bijoy Das hacked to death

#63

Post by ionised »

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…

Atheism is not a religion. It's a lack of belief in any deity.

Re: Bangladesh blogger Ananta Bijoy Das hacked to death

#64

Post by viraptor »

mercurial wrote: post #45
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". 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 Rena…

Well, he may not know much about Islam. I don't either. But even the page you linked quotes:

"Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued."

"Jesus will come again, and at that time will (among other things) abolish jizya, will "perish all religions except Islam""

Which I would translate to simple words as: slaughter those who are different, unless they pay you. If they do, whoever is accepted as Jesus can slaughter them later anyway. In modern world that's protection racket.

PS, While it sounds harsh, that's how I understand it. If that's not the right idea, please do explain it better.

Re: Bangladesh blogger Ananta Bijoy Das hacked to death

#65

Post by cygx »

Bladegunner wrote: post #56
madez wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Disgusting. Other religions are perfectly capable of inspiring similar acts. Though I'm not at all friends of religions in general, the Abrahamic religions are definitely of the more violent and dangerous kind. Sure, killing is part of human nature. Just some religions motivate more to do it than others.

umm.. http://www.cbsnews.com/news/un-dozens-of-rohingya-muslims-ma...

Tribalism is ingrained in us, so you'll be able to find instances of violance due to the us-vs-them mindset anywhere.

That has no bearing whatsoever on how we should handle totalitarian ideologies.

Re: Bangladesh blogger Ananta Bijoy Das hacked to death

#66

Post by ionised »

WhitneyLand wrote: post #50
selectnull wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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/ar…

Theistic religion is just a result of the lesser degree of knowledge of the world, the universe and our place in it that we as a species had thousdands of years ago.

It's just unfortunate that it still exists as such a comfort blanket for so many and continues to give so many other people an excuse to be shitty to one another.

Re: Bangladesh blogger Ananta Bijoy Das hacked to death

#67

Post by cygx »

dghf wrote: post #59
cygx wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Yes, I'm aware of the penalties for apostasy in Iran, and that the toleration shown to Jews and Christians is not extended to other faiths (it would seem the Bahá'í get a particularly rough time of it). But the comment I was replying to made a blanket statement that Islam calls for the slaughter and forced conversion of those of other religions, when the facts simply don't bear that out. Yes, some Muslim individuals…

Take the data from the 2013 Pew poll, which theoretically represents about 1 billion muslims.

One of the questions was about support for the death penalty for apostasy. The report doesn't come with a global average, but you can go to the annex, add some census data and do the math yourself. You'll end up with a number of ~40%.

The idea that all muslims are out to kill infidels is of course ridiculous hyperbole. Nevertheless, I consider the number I just quoted worryingly high.

Re: Bangladesh blogger Ananta Bijoy Das hacked to death

#68

Post by viraptor »

DanBC wrote: post #51
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" Christianity is a bad religion. See the genocide of Bosnian muslims by Serb christians during the Bosnian genocide. (1995 approx) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_cleansing_in_the_Bosnian... Christianity is a bad religion. See the murder of muslims by Ch…

> Christianity is a bad religion.

Yes, it is.

But I don't think it actually calls for killing people practising other religions. (In the new testament, that is) Does it?

Re: Bangladesh blogger Ananta Bijoy Das hacked to death

#69

Post by dghf »

cygx wrote: post #67
dghf wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, I'm aware of the penalties for apostasy in Iran, and that the toleration shown to Jews and Christians is not extended to other faiths (it would seem the Bahá'í get a particularly rough time of it). But the comment I was replying to made a blanket statement that Islam calls for the slaughter and forced conversion of those of other religions, when the facts simply don't bear that out. Yes, some Muslim individuals…

Take the data from the 2013 Pew poll, which theoretically represents about 1 billion muslims. One of the questions was about support for the death penalty for apostasy. The report doesn't come with a global average, but you can go to the annex, add some census data and do the math yourself. You'll end up with a number of ~40%. The idea that all muslims are out to kill infidels is of course ridiculous hyperbole. Never…

I agree with you.

Re: Bangladesh blogger Ananta Bijoy Das hacked to death

#70

Post by angrybits »

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.

In case you're curious, you're getting downvoted because you told the emperor that he isn't wearing any clothes.
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