From: CH8SGHCYW8OGCW8FGW78CG@NCNC.XOM   
      
   "selene1022"  wrote in message   
   news:1137073604.406270.325780@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...   
   > "You simply remove the principal source of mercy in the   
   > ordinary human heart and so make war pitiless; atheism found its proof   
   > at   
   > Stalingrad.' "   
   >   
   > Ummm, that's assuming that mercy is a quality of religion. It is not   
   > necessarily.   
   >   
   > Ever read the Old Testament? Did God order the Israelites to "kill   
   > everything?"   
   >   
   > We won't even touch jihad.   
   >   
   > Indeed, one could argue that in many cases, religion extracts mercy   
   > from the heart by making non-communicants  of whatever faith in   
   > question into "the other", the infidel etc.--something less than human.   
   > That's what makes war pitiless.   
   >   
   > And as example, look at the behavior of Jihadists as compared to   
   > American and British soldiers who operate under secular constitutions   
   > and the rule of law.   
   >   
   > In other words, I think that argument is crap.   
   >   
      
   Oh I wasn't posting it with my endorsement, I just found it interesting   
   that - for once - someone was prepared to *defend* religion in a   
   non-totally-infantile way.   
      
   ROBBIE   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)