They go to the same churches and learn the same mantras -- “judge not lest ye be judged,” “all have sinned,” and “the wages of sin is death.”

These mantras of original sin result in two schools of thought influencing political activity in the United States. The so-called liberal school is unwilling to pass judgment on the worst evil in this world – the weak banding together and robbing the strong of investments at home and abroad, destroying confidence in a global market of free trade. Liberals say we must appease then somehow.

The so-called conservative school uses the churches to manipulate votes and gain support for wars. However, faith confuses our right to defend selfish American interests with the notion a God who is on our side. It becomes a holy war. The bad guys just worship the wrong god.

There’s always a degree of doubt about our right to defend property when we compare faiths. We doubt our Government’s moral obligation to protect American lives when we think of ourselves as a religious nation united under Bible God. We can’t cause collateral damage or movement of refugees, since Islam is also a “great religion.” All religions are said to lead to the same God, like different paths through the woods, all leading to the same beautiful meadow.

For sure, all religious fanatics are on the same path. It doesn't matter whether they call their God Allah, Yahweh, or Jesus.

The problem is that under islam there is no tolerance for any other religion or for those with no religion whatsoever. The atheists are considered the worst offenders of allah and if they refuse to become muslims are to be beheaded. So whether you hate Christians or Jews or not, you will truly hate the muslim.

Ron

So Ron, I guess we have a choice...be beheaded or burned at the stake. Some choice.

Heh, move to france I distinctly recall hearing that no-one with strong religious leanings is even allowed into the higher escelons of govornment there, exactly as it should be; Politicians should be thinking aout how they can serve the people FIRST and their god not at all. Regardless what name you attatch to it, that's bias, my friend, and in politics bias = corruption.

The Dems have finally been reduced to fighting fire with fire. It's still reduced to the lesser of two evils, now both with BibleGod on their side.

http://www.atheists.org/

American Atheists is the only and oldest organization representing atheists in the United States. Check it out, more atheists need to know about them!

Terrorism is requiring the world leaders to start moving in on civil liberties, in order to create a more secure environment. Leaders must do what they have to, to care for their people.

However, I agree that religion needs to be separated from national leadership. The "number one", strategic objective the U.S. and other nations should be focusing in on, is... propoganda control, and how the terrorists use it to recruit followers.

Now, what it propoganda.

Propoganda: "Propaganda is a specific type of message presentation aimed at serving an agenda. At its root, the denotation of propaganda is 'to propagate (actively spread) a philosophy or point of view'. The most common use of the term (historically) is in political contexts; in particular to refer to certain efforts sponsored by governments or political groups."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propoganda

Religion, is by its function a political unit.

Political: "Politics is the process and method of making decisions for groups. Although it is generally applied to governments, politics is also observed in all human group interactions including corporate, academic, and religious."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politics

Anyone who had read the Quran, Tanakh, Talmud, NT, etc., obviously understands that there is "much" hate speech in those books. Its that "very" hate speech, that is mindlessly consumed, and barfed out to entire national people. Its irresponsible, and one persons' ignorance of hate speech can influence violence, etc., by propogation of previous agendas via words.

Take the Catolic Pope's recent comments... can we say "Hate Speech"? How about "inciting violence"?

The pope, recently gave a speech/lecture at the University of Regensburg. While giving his speech, he reverted back to the "historical" writings, of a period with hatred, bigotry, and intolerance.

He specifically cited, a 14th century Byzantine emperor, showing his belief... He stated:

Pope: "Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached,..."

That's what one could call "Hate Speech", and irresponsibly inciting violence. Instead of listening in on phone conversations, perhaps the international community should stand up, and "denounce", the Hate Speech, and its direct influence on further violence in the world.

In the U.S., there is precedent for removing symbols of hatred, i.e., The Confederate Flag, etc., from State/Gov't buildings

If the U.S. gov't wants to be involved in each citizens' rights, so much that they are willing to tap phone conversations, and push the second edition of the Patriot Act, why can't it do the "single" most responsible thing for domestic and international peace... prevent the "propogation/propoganda" operations of intolerant groups, by directly advocating against their "hate speech" - Quran, Bible, Talmud, etc.

The U.S. can remove flags from gov't buildings... but it can't "denounce" the books that cite hate speech which are produced in mass - Quran, Bible, etc., because its not "popular"...

No one suggests that a person can't keep their traditions, and even believe in their convictions. However, there is "no one" governing body that has stood up to condemn the thick hate speech found in religious doctrine.

The U.S. is tagged as a nation which targets specific religions, because it has historically condemned specific religious groups, without recognizing and openly acknowledging the "equality" of Hate Speech found within Christianity - the Bible.

Many people are turned off by the political machine of the U.S., and even more towards the U.K., because instead of standing up and defining Hate Speech, and standing on principle and condemning it. These nations pick and choose which religion is more corrupt than another.

In affect, politicians create wars based on group "Ad Hominem" attacks. While ignoring the real kernel of hate - doctrine. The only reason the U.S. doesn't have as many "fanatics" killing people with domestic terrorism, is because many religious leaders don't require the in-depth daily indoctrination required of other religious groups, especially overseas.

If a U.S. christian prayed five times a day, starting somewhere at 4:00 a.m., throughout the day, and was required to memorize the entire bible, and be able to recite it upon request, we'ed have just as many fanatics blowing themselves up on our shores.

Its a blessing that the christians in the U.S. over the past two hundred years, have been kept at bay because of competing religious/political groups with as much influence. The stability of the U.S. hasn't been found in its doctrine/framework, its stability exists only because the religious have been too lazy and divided to mount a combined attack, because they interpret their "Hate Speech" differently. My, how that would change if every christian had to memorize the bible, and be brainwashed from early childhood that its the absolute word of a god, and should be followed as such.

Hate speech, is hate speech. It breeds intolerance, and the gov't has done nothing to be "proactive" in this domestic arena. They are more content with spending billions of dollars in the clean-up, reactive mode - and after thousands of lives are lost in combat.

I don't hold onto absolutes, but, leaders must be guided on some strategic "principle", in a changing world (continuall checked), in order to create operational plans that are effetive for a desired outcome.

If the desired outcome is to remove violence from the international community, we can measure the effectiveness of the U.S. political effort, and international effort... The results are not from lack of brawn, but for sense of understanding.

When a nation is divided, so is its message, the inability to call a spade a spade in a politically correct environment, will continue to plague the U.S., and its foreign policy.

Sorry, Anonymous, I couldn't let this go by:

Terrorism is requiring the world leaders to start moving in on civil liberties, in order to create a more secure environment.

This is a very dangerous misconception. Ben Franklin's warning about giving up essential liberty for temporary safety was never more important than it is today. Liberty and security are not a tradeoff, as various "leaders" and the media would have you believe, I could go on at great length about this, but just ask yourself: if we allow our hard-won civil liberties to be taken away, exactly when are we supposed to get them back?

Recently I read an interview with Sam Harris. He indirectly suggested that if people become aware of the absurdities in the bible, they may actually accept it for what it is, a work of fiction.

I've had countless debates with jesus-jerks and I don't think I've ever changed one mind. My new tactic is to publicly display passages from the bible - the ones that cause shock. Let's remind people that God sanctioned mass infanticide, the killing of pregnant women, slavery, whore houses, etc. These are events that cannot be explained away. Use the copy machine to capture a shocking passage and accidentally leave it in a break room. It makes for good gossip. Maybe a few people will see the bible for what it is.