HBlair I guess your knowledge of history doesn't go beyond the last century if you claim what you did above..
I never claimed the church to be the sole reason for evil things, evil comes from within - not from the church.
But you have to realise that during the middle ages and beyond, the church was the ultimate instrument of politics and power. The priests had power over the king and the country. The church of the inquisition could well be directly compared to NSDAP or the communist party. Both of which are banned in most countries nowadays - and for a reason.
As I told you in my post the status of the church has changed nowadays and even the people following it have become less narrowminded and enlightened. Just as the people in Germany are nowadays just like the rest of us. Russia.. well.. the system is still reaping what it sow'd there. It will take decades for them to heal, if even then. We have to keep in mind that both Hitler and Stalin were very short periods in power compared to the whole dark ages of religious oppression.
The Taliban people are living the same kind of religious phase like christians did in the dark ages. They had very little knowledge - rules that based on belief not knowledge, rules that prohibited anyone from GETTING knowledge. That creates a deadly cycle where fundamentalism feeds itself by general stupidity of the population. The fact that all churches have leaders really only makes things worse.. If you haven't noticed the system of church is really a dictatorship.
The Pope doesn't hand out votes from his decisions. No, he's giving out the message of God directly through him. Right? He can't be wrong say the catholics. Same applies to the religious leaders of Taliban.. If they say go kill all Americans, that's exactly what the dumb diddlys will do because they know no other law except the one that they have been brainwashed to since being children. A lifetime of horror stories and promises of 7 virgins and a heaven on earth after death does wonders to a 19-year old boy with no education, work or hope for a future.
I have to rephrase: The church is not the cause for evil, but it's a powerful instrument to control people by their superstition for the people who really ARE evil and use their power wrong. Any religion that has a leader who has any kind of power over the other is really a political system. Unfortunately power corrupts, and who could be easyer to be corrupted than a guy who probably thinks himself too that he's on a mission of God and everyone think he's holy. That's the very base of corruption.
And Tumor: That howitzer example is directly comparable to a drowning person. He grabs the last straw even though he knows it won't save him. It's just the nature of a man to try to preserve his life by any means possible. So even an atheist may say a prayer when the howitzer hits, just in case.
I really don't know if God exists or not. The world just seems to be a place which does not support the existence of an all-being controlling our lives. Things happen more or less randomly, most of them bad things. The fact that we live in priviledged societies may cloud our judgement. The sad truth is, though, that for each one of us there are 100 or more people in a state of agony and hunger. If there is a God, may God have mercy on them.
Somehow I just think that ain't gonna happen.
