Church members abduct and beat gay man in NC to expel homosexual demons

[javero]

RUTHERFORDTON, N.C. (AP) — The Latest on the trial of a North Carolina minister who is accused of assaulting and kidnapping a gay church member (all times local):

5:40 p.m.

One of five people charged with beating a fellow church member to expel what they called "homosexual demons" says church leaders asked everyone at the attack to tell investigators that nothing happened.

Complete article at The Latest: Woman Says Churchgoers Told to Lie About Attack

[qolbinau]

Makes me sick. We need an intellectual revolution now. 

[bethnor]

and liberals still go on trying to make nice with this.  monotheism doesn't want to make nice.  it wants everyone to live according to mores from 2000 year old stories from the desert.  some part of monotheism will always hate LGBT--because it has to.  that's what these horrible stories say, in cold print.  how many of us have to die before people learn?

[Dave28282]

Indoctrinating your children that a certain god is almighty and that you should do what you think he wants is RADICAL per definition.

We need to adjust our views on the term radicalisation.

[Mister Matt]

and liberals still go on trying to make nice with this.

Huh?  Not any that I know.  It's not a monotheism thing, it's a people thing.

[bethnor]

Mister Matt said: "and liberals still go on trying to make nice with this.

Huh?  Not any that I know.  It's not a monotheism thing, it's a people thing.

as a body, the majority of liberals are waiting for the nice, progressive version of religion to win.  examining the course of history, it may well do give or take a few more decades, but there will be a lot of death and suffering before then.

 

[qolbinau]

Mister Matt said: "and liberals still go on trying to make nice with this.

Huh?  Not any that I know.  It's not a monotheism thing, it's a people thing.

 

"

It's a religious and people thing. Tell me Mister Matt, if these specific people did not hold the farcical idea that there was such thing as a 'demon' or that homosexuality was somehow sinful/against God - do you think this specific event would have happened? The way people deny relationships between religious dogma/beliefs and negative behaviours/attitudes these days is truly puzzling. People are not born to think that demons exist or homosexuality is a sin. As we have known for a long time, "you have to be carefully taught". 

[Mister Matt]

examining the course of history, it may well do give or take a few more decades, but there will be a lot of death and suffering before then.

There is always a pattern of death and suffering prior to any major social movement of change, regardless whatever the large body of the majority of liberals are doing.  I just don't know how you arrived at your assessment of what all liberals are doing en masse.

[CarlosAlberto]

qolbinau said: "Makes me sick. We need an intellectual revolution now. 

 

Clearly you're not spearheading it.

[Dave28282]

CarlosAlberto said: "

Clearly you're not spearheading it."

 

Says the one with absolutely 0% substantial input.

 

[ErikJ972]

I know qolbinau fancies herself a revoiutionary thinker because she knows who Sam Harris is, but what she doesn't realize is most of what she spouts off about has already been in motion for decades.

Why America’s ‘nones’ left religion behind

"Perhaps the most striking trend in American religion in recent years has been the growing percentage of adults who do not identify with a religious group. And the vast majority of these religious “nones” (78%) say they were raised as a member of a particular religion before shedding their religious identity in adulthood.

About half of current religious “nones” who were raised in a religion (49%) indicate that a lack of belief led them to move away from religion. This includes many respondents who mention “science” as the reason they do not believe in religious teachings, including one who said “I’m a scientist now, and I don’t believe in miracles.” Others reference “common sense,” “logic” or a “lack of evidence” – or simply say they do not believe in God. 

But there are other reasons people give for leaving behind their childhood religion. One-in-five express an opposition to organized religion in general. This share includes some who do not like the hierarchical nature of religious groups, several people who think religion is too much like a business and others who mention clergy sexual abuse scandals as reasons for their stance."

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/08/24/why-americas-nones-left-religion-behind/

[Fergleiscious]

Carlo! How is Italy?

[qolbinau]

ErikJ972 said: "I know qolbinau fancies herself a revoiutionary thinker because she knows who Sam Harris is, but what she doesn't realize is most of what she spouts off about has already been in motion for decades.

Why America’s ‘nones’ left religion behind

"Perhaps the most striking trend in American religion in recent years has been the growing percentage of adults who do not identify with a religious group. And the vast majority of these religious “nones” (78%) say they were raised as a member of a particular religion before shedding their religious identity in adulthood.

About half of current religious “nones” who were raised in a religion (49%) indicate that a lack of belief led them to move away from religion. This includes many respondents who mention “science” as the reason they do not believe in religious teachings, including one who said “I’m a scientist now, and I don’t believe in miracles.” Others reference “common sense,” “logic” or a “lack of evidence” – or simply say they do not believe in God. 

But there are other reasons people give for leaving behind their childhood religion. One-in-five express an opposition to organized religion in general. This share includes some who do not like the hierarchical nature of religious groups, several people who think religion is too much like a business and others who mention clergy sexual abuse scandals as reasons for their stance."

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/08/24/why-americas-nones-left-religion-behind/

 

"

Bless the lord. Praise be to God. Looks like in time we will finally be in paradise :). 

[Roscoe]

The Westboro Doctrine of Bigotry Against Homosexuals (God Hates F*gs) is the most consistently invoked religious policy in the world.

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Discussion about religious dogma and where it comes from (things like the oppression of LGBTQ people and of women, etc.) is always pretty loaded and complex as people sort of debate the degree that religion plays or whether absent religion, another structure would have been put in place to force those ideas onto us. I will say, and forgive the simplicity, that I think ideas against LGBTQ relationships, the control of women and their reproduction, what people eat, how they act, etc. were originated outside of religion but religion was used as a tool to easily communicate and scare/persuade people to abide to such ideas under the idea of benefiting the community as a whole over the individual. So religion is a very useful tool to perpetuate such things that may have existed beforehand. The reason why much of this has existed is due to controlling female reproduction AND to promote a certain sort of society for the "good" of "all" and unfortunately the normalization and encouragement of same-sex relationships is seen as the antithesis of that society because some people equate that with stopping population growth and challenging stability of monogamous two-person (of different sexes) relationships and thus hinder the growth and stable institutionalized family units. Look at how many laws worldwide, including the U.S. are geared towards assisting and promoting two parent families. 

Changing our culture to make religion less of a presence won't get rid of those oppressive ideas on its own, but it will be effective in stopping the pervasive spread of those ideas. However, we will then have to look out for other ways those ideas will be pushed as it will happen. 

How to change culture to make religion less of a presence in our lives globally and domestically is another loaded topic that will probably inspire much debate. One thing is for sure, forcing secularization will make people cling on to their religious beliefs more which will then show up in a democracy where the dedicated, hardcore folks (which will increase in number because that's how religions work especially when you allow those who prescribe to it to play victim and martyr) will certainly show up to polls unlike the more apathetic, checked-out types who take their world as it exists for granted or underestimate the vigor and passion of such people.

[qolbinau]

I agree with your analysis. Given that religion is a social construct invented by humans the ideas must pre-date religion. But yes it is a very compelling vehicle for the ideas - ideas that are indoctrinated at a young age and ideas to which have important consequences for believers (i.e., can determine how happy your everlasting afterlife is). It's really an almost perfect system - the very clever religions make leaving them extremely difficult - ensuring the infection keeps spreading and spreadin, and ensuring it is never cured.  

Gay people are among the worst victims of religion. I know I sounded jaded but I am and think rightly so. Of course religion is not the only issue related to negative attitudes and behaviours towards homosexuality. But it's a very large one. And the pain and suffering caused to gay people - particularly in Muslim countries but also in western countries and throughout the world - will keep me motivated until these filthy ideas are rid from this earth. 

Even in Western countries gay people are among the only demographic where it is socially acceptable to have negative attitudes towards and vote for discriminatory policies against. It's really, really sad.