NationStates Jolt Archive

I just over heard my mom saying she wants to know how many people have been killed by "The Religion of Peace" (Islam) but to be fair I want to know how many have died in the name of Christianity and other religions. I tried looking it up, but I couldn't find anything. I really want to see a comparison, can anyone help me?

Before anyone posts anything else, this is about martyrdom, and dying in the name of a religion, not being killed by religious authorities. Probably Protestants

EDIT: dang, I accidentally voted catholics

A rather troll thread. To be sure you should add forced secular soceities with religion repressed (Stalinist Russia, Nazi Germany, and Red China), but you don't why? Because secularism is not a religion despite being the anti-thesis of it? Your whole post lacks maturity and open thinking, and if I may daresay lack of intelligence.

Countries where religion was supressed and there was dictatorship killed more then any theocracy ever did. And yet do we hear for this reason that all secular or atheist people should be converted for the sake of humanity? No because quite frankly there is no connection with killing and other crimes in conjuction with religion or lack thereof. Anyone who wishes to say otherwise is hopelessly prejudiced or a lackwit, or possibly to their defense not yet matured enough to comprehend the contradictions what they are stating/saying.

I would say Islam.

No religion has actually killed anyone, to my knowledge. Stupid people have killed others/themselves, thinking that they were glorifying their own flawed belief system.

I just over heard my mom saying she wants to know how many people have been killed by "The Religion of Peace" (Islam) but to be fair I want to know how many have died in the name of Christianity and other religions. I tried looking it up, but I couldn't find anything. I really want to see a comparison, can anyone help me?

Obviously you couldn't think of many 'other religions' for your poll. :)

A rather troll thread. To be sure you should add forced secular soceities with religion repressed (Stalinist Russia, Nazi Germany, and Red China), but you don't why? Because secularism is not a religion despite being the anti-thesis of it? Your whole post lacks maturity and open thinking, and if I may daresay lack of intelligence.

Countries where religion was supressed and there was dictatorship killed more then any theocracy ever did. And yet do we hear for this reason that all secular or atheist people should be converted for the sake of humanity? No because quite frankly there is no connection with killing and other crimes in conjuction with religion or lack thereof. Anyone who wishes to say otherwise is hopelessly prejudiced or a lackwit, or possibly to their defense not yet matured enough to comprehend the contradictions what they are stating/saying.
QFT

Hmmmm, if the question is meant in the context of Klitvilia assertion. I would have to say i believe either the Armenian Church (Turkish genocide along with many other persecutions) or the Jewish people through their countless pogroms and anti-semitic victimizations.

QFT


I am unaware of the meaning of the term so I am afraid I cannot answer? Care to elaborate?

"Catholicism
Protestant Religions"

Another name for that religion is "Christianity," you know.

Of the existing religions, I have to go with judaism simply because it's been around for so long.

However, I think some of the old-time religions probably have them beat.

Also, if you factor in the spreading of diseases the Catholic explorers and missionaries put them over the top, I bet.

Christians . Of all flavors ...why are we having a contest ?

A rather troll thread. To be sure you should add forced secular soceities with religion repressed (Stalinist Russia, Nazi Germany, and Red China), but you don't why? Because secularism is not a religion despite being the anti-thesis of it? Your whole post lacks maturity and open thinking, and if I may daresay lack of intelligence.

Countries where religion was supressed and there was dictatorship killed more then any theocracy ever did. And yet do we hear for this reason that all secular or atheist people should be converted for the sake of humanity? No because quite frankly there is no connection with killing and other crimes in conjuction with religion or lack thereof. Anyone who wishes to say otherwise is hopelessly prejudiced or a lackwit, or possibly to their defense not yet matured enough to comprehend the contradictions what they are stating/saying.

Actually I realize that forced secular societies have killed many but it still wasn't in the name of Atheism it was in the name of "stability" and such and those killings include people who were not killed due to their religious beliefs but also those killed for their revolutionary ideas. I just think for one person to say "Well Islam has killed so many therefore it's bad" seems like a tough arguement especially when they are a Christian considering how many have died in the name of Christianity. I hope you see what I'm saying, and yes I realize I'm stirring up trouble but there's gotta be a graph somewhere or something! I'm not trying to make an anti religion thred, I just want to know where all these line up.

I am unaware of the meaning of the term so I am afraid I cannot answer? Care to elaborate?
QFT (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=QFT)

on topic....

I don't believe that any religion has killed anyone.

I don't really see the point in the question other than trolling.

If I had to choose one though, I really couldn't, I don't think there are like records of whom killed how many and what the motive was.

Christians . Of all flavors ...why are we having a contest ?

To see who wins the car, Silly. :p

To see who wins the car, Silly. :p


Who gets to say go ?

http://www.theforumsite.com/images/galleries/mid_fccf0db64799ce0299a0ca7b417700b0.jpg

Actually I realize that forced secular societies have killed many but it still wasn't in the name of Atheism it was in the name of "stability" and such and those killings include people who were not killed due to their religious beliefs but also those killed for their revolutionary ideas. I just think for one person to say "Well Islam has killed so many therefore it's bad" seems like a tough arguement especially when they are a Christian considering how many have died in the name of Christianity. I hope you see what I'm saying, and yes I realize I'm stirring up trouble but there's gotta be a graph somewhere or something! I'm not trying to make an anti religion thred, I just want to know where all these line up.

And yet most of the killing you call religious killings were done to maintain stability, or use the religion as a cover and misuse it. Therefore being the fault of certain people and not the religion as a whole. I am merely applying the same mantra that some misinformed people use concerning religion to secular soceity inorder to show the contradiction. I personally believe religion is neither good or bad, secularism is neither good or bad, only people are good and bad, so to blame an institution over individuals baffles me as extreme prejudice and/or ignorance.

Personality cults have killed the most people. Tyrants like Stalin, Hitler, Mao, Pol Pot, Hussein and others going back to the dawn of civilization were all surrounded by personality cults that enabled them to commit their atrocities; their supporters had a fanatical devotion to these people that convinced them that murder, torture, and oppression were a religious mission.

Scientology.

Obviously you couldn't think of many 'other religions' for your poll. :)
Hinduism
Janism
Buddism
Judaism
Animism (sp?)
Mormonism

ok you get the idea, they just weren't listed because they just don't compare when you put those on the board MAYBE Hinduism could hold a card because it's got so many followers but I seriously doubt it. If they can please say so and give sources, maybe there's some obscure Hindu crusade I don't know about I know that there's been tension between Hindus and Muslims in India since Muslims started living there and much fighting between the groups, but I still doubt they hold a card.

There is so many reasons why this poll is bad but many have already been listed.

Another one i would say is because some religions have been around much longer then others. That means it can't be used as evidence to show which religion is worse.

Hinduism
Janism
Buddism
Judaism
Animism (sp?)
Mormonism

ok you get the idea, they just weren't listed because they just don't compare when you put those on the board MAYBE Hinduism could hold a card because it's got so many followers but I seriously doubt it. If they can please say so and give sources, maybe there's some obscure Hindu crusade I don't know about I know that there's been tension between Hindus and Muslims in India since Muslims started living there and much fighting between the groups, but I still doubt they hold a card.

Actually, Judaism has probably caused far more deaths then all of the religions you have listed.

Of the existing religions, I have to go with judaism simply because it's been around for so long.

However, I think some of the old-time religions probably have them beat.

Also, if you factor in the spreading of diseases the Catholic explorers and missionaries put them over the top, I bet.

The deseases didn't kill in the name of religion- they were impartial. Unless you mean to say missionaries purposefully spread them to kill Pegans then I can't so those count...

A rather troll thread. To be sure you should add forced secular soceities with religion repressed (Stalinist Russia, Nazi Germany, and Red China), but you don't why?
Nazi Germany was not secular (it was catholic/lutheran). Stalin was Russian Orthodox, and eventually relented to having open religions after the populace got pissed at him.

You might just want to get your facts straight before you post.

Actually, Judaism has probably caused far more deaths then all of the religions you have listed.
By proxy, definitely. Being the root cause of Christianity and a factor in the creation of Islam works against its statistics.

Actually, Judaism has probably caused far more deaths then all of the religions you have listed.
What do you mean?

EDIT: damnit... why did I reply when I was still a little high? I mistakenly read it as "Janism"...

Catholicsm and Islam.

I think one has to make a distinction between killing, as specifically sanctified and ordered, by recognized religious authority, and killing done by people who just *think* they're doing the right thing.

It isn't possible to overlook the crusades, for instance, which were a Church-sponsored massacre, among other things. On the other hand, there are religions, such as some practiced in South America long before Europeans got there, in which killing people (called "sacfificing") was an integral part of the religious process. I'm not sure anybody even has an educated guess as to how many people have died under those religions.

I didn't vote in the poll because I don't have enough information to make a choice. On the basis of the crusades, alone, I'd guess that it would be Catholicism, although to be fair the estimates of the number of people dying in that war against native cultures vary widely.

Actually, Judaism has probably caused far more deaths then all of the religions you have listed.

Can I see a source? I'd be interested to see if that's true, I didn't think so but others seem to agree so can we get some proof? I want to find out the answer not dispute it, right now I'm guessing Catholicism, but I think Catholic killings get more attention than others so that could be misleading.

Can I see a source? I'd be interested to see if that's true, I didn't think so but others seem to agree so can we get some proof? I want to find out the answer not dispute it, right now I'm guessing Catholicism, but I think Catholic killings get more attention than others so that could be misleading.

There is no source because there is no way to measure these sorts of things.

By proxy, definitely. Being the root cause of Christianity and a factor in the creation of Islam works against its statistics.
Judaism *is* the foundation of both Christianity and Islam, however both those religions are altogether seperate because while they include the old testimate they include seperate books not recognized by Jews. Mormons =/= Christians because while the religion is based off of Christianity it includes books that the Christian church does not follow or teach.

There is no source because there is no way to measure these sorts of things.
There's gotta be some sort of estimate! I mean you have to base this off of something, right?

Other.

While not technically a religion, the doctrine of Marxist Communism, which has religious implications (opiate of the masses and so on and so forth) has been responsible for the deaths of quite a tremendous number of individuals. Besides the millions who died in Stalin's purges and restructuring of the Soviet economy, even more millions died under Mao, also as a result of purges and economic restructuring. Pol Pot gets honorable mention, because while the numbers of people he killed were not on the Stalin/Mao scale, he killed a third of his country off. Wars initiated by countries that adhere to the various versions of Marxism have resulted in millions of deaths, and wind from Eastern Europe, all the way through Russia and Central Asia, and down into China and the various countries of South East Asia.

Marxism, an ideology that openly professes hostility towards religion, is the great killer of all the political-religious affiliations.

Other.

While not technically a religion, the doctrine of Marxist Communism, which has religious implications (opiate of the masses and so on and so forth) has been responsible for the deaths of quite a tremendous number of individuals. Besides the millions who died in Stalin's purges and restructuring of the Soviet economy, even more millions died under Mao, also as a result of purges and economic restructuring. Pol Pot gets honorable mention, because while the numbers of people he killed were not on the Stalin/Mao scale, he killed a third of his country off. Wars initiated by countries that adhere to the various versions of Marxism have resulted in millions of deaths, and wind from Eastern Europe, all the way through Russia and Central Asia, and down into China and the various countries of South East Asia.

Marxism, an ideology that openly professes hostility towards religion, is the great killer of all the political-religious affiliations.
Yes, Marxist states have killed many and are infamous for brutality, but that's not the question, the question is within religion who's has been used as an excuse for the most killings? Marxism isn't actually a religion it can become much like a religion for those following the ideology (or a leader who claims to do so), but it is not actually a religion.

I just over heard my mom saying she wants to know how many people have been killed by "The Religion of Peace" (Islam) but to be fair I want to know how many have died in the name of Christianity and other religions. I tried looking it up, but I couldn't find anything. I really want to see a comparison, can anyone help me?
Oooh! Trick question, right? Religions don't kill people, people kill people.

Yes, Marxist states have killed many and are infamous for brutality, but that's not the question, the question is within religion who's has been used as an excuse for the most killings? Marxism isn't actually a religion it can become much like a religion for those following the ideology (or a leader who claims to do so), but it is not actually a religion.
Which begs the question, what exactly is a religion? Is religion a belief system? Does it require that one recognize some sort of mystical deity, or is it possible to have a religion based around the mundane? I'm not a theologist, and my experiences in the realm of religion are quite limited indeed. I consider personality worship, such as is seen in Cuba and the DPRK these days to be a religion, but that's just me.

What religion has killed the most people?

Theism

I just over heard my mom saying she wants to know how many people have been killed by "The Religion of Peace" (Islam) but to be fair I want to know how many have died in the name of Christianity and other religions. I tried looking it up, but I couldn't find anything. I really want to see a comparison, can anyone help me?

Try the pagans, as they have been around a lot longer than most religions. :p
You are not going to get statistics here, only biased speculation. :rolleyes:

Quakers....

Honestly, who cares which religion has killed the most people? Pointing fingers is only going to increase the animosity between religions, and make killing worse. For once, let's just let it go.

Oooh! Trick question, right? Religions don't kill people, people kill people.
lol good point, but just add in the name of religion to the end. You have to admit that religion is used as an "excuse" to kill others and that certain religions have been used as the excuse more often. I don't see why I shouldn't say that people have died in the name of that religion those following it should admit that people died in the name of their religion because it is a fact. To deny it simply makes you blind I'm not saying people don't kill for other reasons or that the religion causes them to kill. I'm certain that if it weren't for religion we would find something else to kill over, I just want to know the answer to my question and I don't see why it's such a horrible question to ask when people HAVE INDEED died in the name of religions.

Long story short: just answer the question and argue about the root of the killing later on.

Try the pagans, as they have been around a lot longer than most religions. :p
You are not going to get statistics here, only biased speculation. :rolleyes:
"Pagan" is not a religion. It's a catch-all term that referred to anyone who wasn't a member of one of the Abrahamic religions.

Try the pagans, as they have been around a lot longer than most religions. :p
You are not going to get statistics here, only biased speculation. :rolleyes:
Yeah this is going nowhere... was hoping there was something out there, but it looks pretty much impossible Maybe I should ask since a certain year that it can be measured from, but it's too late now. Well I'm going to stop wasting my time. zaijian

There is a key difference between Christianity, the most perfect Faith, and Islam. While individual Christians may have acted, and continue to act, in error on occasion, the holy Scriptures, particularly as completed by Christ, do not mandate violence against any person or group, instead demanding that we love our enemy.

On the contrary, the Qur'an, which is simply the compilation of the words of an angry man, Muhammed, preaches death and violence against non-believers.

If Islamic believers wage violent war against others, Christians don't just have the right, but the duty, to stand and fight against this injustice. In the past, this rule of justice was the prime motivation for the holy Crusades. (And, yes, individual Christians occasionally acted contrary to God's moral law during this period.)

That being said, we should continually pray for peace of the world and for God's grace to be made manifest amongst all peoples.

There is a key difference between Christianity, the most perfect Faith, and Islam. While individual Christians may have acted, and continue to act, in error on occasion, the holy Scriptures, particularly as completed by Christ, do not mandate violence against any person or group, instead demanding that we love our enemy.

On the contrary, the Qur'an, which is simply the compilation of the words of an angry man, Muhammed, preaches death and violence against non-believers.

If Islamic believers wage violent war against others, Christians don't just have the right, but the duty, to stand and fight against this injustice. In the past, this rule of justice was the prime motivation for the holy Crusades. (And, yes, individual Christians occasionally acted contrary to God's moral law during this period.)

That being said, we should continually pray for peace of the world and for God's grace to be made manifest amongst all peoples.

Here we go....

There is a key difference between Christianity, the most perfect Faith, and Islam. While individual Christians may have acted, and continue to act, in error on occasion, the holy Scriptures, particularly as completed by Christ, do not mandate violence against any person or group, instead demanding that we love our enemy.

Which is why YHWH ordered the Amalekites to be completely exterminated not once, not twice, but three damn times.

Which is why YHWH ordered the Amalekites to be completely exterminated not once, not twice, but three damn times.
Kinda wonder why he bothered. A fat lot of good it did the first 2 times.

Kinda wonder why he bothered. A fat lot of good it did the first 2 times.
They were exterminated the first two times.

They were exterminated the first two times.
And yet, somehow, came back again later?

The voices in your head tell you to kill because the almighty ruler of creation wants it done. You do. Years later, the guys you killed come back again. Seriously, big hint there; he's not as powerful as the voices say, guys!

Which is why YHWH ordered the Amalekites to be completely exterminated not once, not twice, but three damn times.

I get the same quotes from Old Testament Scripture again and again, from people who have never even studied the thing. They must be compiled on a leftist website or from President Bartlett on the West Wing.

The Hebrew Scriptures were meant for a specific people at a specific time. God urged them to war for reasons having to do with his intention of revealing a greater point.

As for now, we are under the mandate of Christ, the most perfect Lawmaker, and there are no such provisions for violence.

And, in general, religious people have done more to maintain peace throughout the world than decadent people, who worship government in the place of God.

There is a key difference between Christianity, the most perfect Faith, and Islam. While individual Christians may have acted, and continue to act, in error on occasion, the holy Scriptures, particularly as completed by Christ, do not mandate violence against any person or group, instead demanding that we love our enemy.

On the contrary, the Qur'an, which is simply the compilation of the words of an angry man, Muhammed, preaches death and violence against non-believers.

If Islamic believers wage violent war against others, Christians don't just have the right, but the duty, to stand and fight against this injustice. In the past, this rule of justice was the prime motivation for the holy Crusades. (And, yes, individual Christians occasionally acted contrary to God's moral law during this period.)

That being said, we should continually pray for peace of the world and for God's grace to be made manifest amongst all peoples.

went a little heavy on the brainwashing today, didnt we?

"the most perfect Faith"? it too preaches death and violence against nonbelievers.

i give up. you know what, i think i'm done. at NS, and general too.
same. old. shit.

went a little heavy on the brainwashing today, didnt we?

"the most perfect Faith"? it too preaches death and violence against nonbelievers.

i give up. you know what, i think i'm done. at NS, and general too.
same. old. shit.

Which of Christ's commands mandate death and violence against nonbelievers?

went a little heavy on the brainwashing today, didnt we?

"the most perfect Faith"? it too preaches death and violence against nonbelievers.

i give up. you know what, i think i'm done. at NS, and general too.
same. old. shit.

There is so much self-hatred in the lands formerly known as Christendom. We should be very proud of our heritage and of the joy our ancestors had in receiving the truth of Christ. The Faith has produced so much in so many fields of the arts and the sciences, and the results have been shared for the benefit for all mankind.

However, I bet I can count on one hand the number of followers of the Prophet Muhammed that have the same level of self-hatred of their faith, as the West does of Christianity. And people of Islamic faith maintain this pride when it's quite arguable that their faith has been far less successful than Christianity at calling people to live in holy ways, loving God and neighbor.

Which of Christ's commands mandate death and violence against nonbelievers?
"I came not to bring peace, but a sword." Not exactly the Prince of Peace. Not to mention that the vast majority of Christian teaching from the NT come from Paul, not Yeshua ben Yosef.

"I came not to bring peace, but a sword." Not exactly the Prince of Peace. Not to mention that the vast majority of Christian teaching from the NT come from Paul, not Yeshua ben Yosef.

The sword he is talking about is the very debate we are having now: Whether we should follow God or follow our own personal desires.

However, Christ clearly does not mean for us to take it literally, because if you take a look at the next verse, it would then indicate that we are supposed to use that sword against our own family.

Instead of logging on to the UK Socialist Party website to get little snippets from Scripture, why don't you take an hour and sit down with the Gospel according to St. John. I'm sure you, or your parents, have a King James Bible around the house somewhere from your Baptism. It will be a good use of your time.

Instead of logging on to the UK Socialist Party website to get little snippets from Scripture, why don't you take an hour and sit down with the Gospel according to St. John. I'm sure you, or your parents, have a King James Bible around the house somewhere from your Baptism. It will be a good use of your time.
I've read most of the NT. And nice of you to automatically assume that I was baptised. Or that I'm a socialist.

Oh, wow.

A lot of false assumptions being made here. I will grant everyone that this thread's poll is not a very good poll.

Earlier on, Smunkeeville asserted that no religion has killed anybody, while this may be technically true per se, it is not an accurate assertion overall.

In the specific case of Roman Catholicism, the highest authority figure in it, various Popes, have ordered crusades and inquisitions that have been responsible for a distressingly large number of deaths over the millenia. In part these crusades were participated in by various other religions. In the case of Islam, they killed Catholics in response to their crusades at the behest of muezzins and mullahs, in the name of the Prophet.

It is clear that organized religions have committed war on other organized religions in various fights for religious supremacy. This is beyond question.

Protestantism is the descriptive term used to divide various faiths from Roman Catholicism (Lutheranism and Calvinism in specific as they were the initial protestors of the RC faith and it's leadership, this list later branched out to what we see today).

Christianity, of itself is a religion that pays obeisance to the life of Jesus Christ, this encompasses Catholicism, Episcopalianism, Presbyterianism and the large number of Protestant faiths, including the Russian Orthodox Church which broke with the mother Church.

Without question, the religion that has been responsible for the largest number of deaths by it's own orders, neglect and wars is Roman Catholicism. It is followed closely by the faith of Islam.

1. Roman Catholicism
2. Church of Islam

Nothing else comes even close to these two.

Judaism has suffered a great number of deaths by the hands of others, but has not directly ordered via it's offices or various Rabbinical councils the death of others in sufficient numbers to make it close to the butcher's bill rung up by Catholicism and Islam.

im thinking confucianism.

its very old, and its in a country with lots of people and lots of wars.

hmmmm maybe hinduism for the same reason.

1. Roman Catholicism
2. Church of Islam

To attack the Church in this way is just simply in ignorance of history. I suppose if it fits your socialist doctrine though, it's useful. Remember your guiding hero, Vladimir Lenin, and his belief on morality: Unlike Christianity, which asserts that there exists objective truth, the only morality socialists recognize is whatever helps further their cause.

I still don't understand the profound self-hatred in the West these days. I know the socialists and "progressives" pump this through the government-controlled schools (which everyone praises as completely unbiased, lol), but just the same it seems so depressing. I hope we can recover from this era.

Which of Christ's commands mandate death and violence against nonbelievers?

Jesus actually advocated violence and execution at the end of one of his parables. Luke 19:27 "But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them—bring them here and kill them in front of me."

Now, most Christians don't know about that. I think because most have never actually read their Bible (about 70% never have read it through, according to a recent survey on the Christian network TBN). When presented with it, they usually interpret it to mean something else. However, this verse was used to justify little things like the Crusades, executing heretics, and waging war against non-believers. Thus, it would seem that the historical interpretation is once of advocating violence.

The idea of Jesus as a peace loving hippy who taught never to judge and always to forgive is actually rather new.

Well, does the destruction of South America go on the account of Catholicism or not?

Which begs the question, what exactly is a religion? Is religion a belief system? Does it require that one recognize some sort of mystical deity, or is it possible to have a religion based around the mundane?

Philosophy = mundane. Religion = sacred. This is an important distinction. Religion can be seen as either a philosophy that includes a belief in the divine, or a belief in the divine which includes a philosophy. Either way, if the concept of a supernatural being/beings/force/whatever, isn't in a belief system then that belief system isn't a religion. If this were not true then the term "religion" would apply to *all* belief systems and anything which is everything has no distinction with anything else. There's a reason our language makes a distinction between the two terms, since people approach philosophies and religions from very different angles. The central tenants of a religion are, by nature, not testable. It's the old challenge "Prove the existence of <fill in the name of a god/dess>". If you can't then you can't prove that then you can't prove (or disprove) the validity of that religion. The central tenants of a philosphy are, at least in principle, testable. Their ideas have real-world applications and were deduced by people who were faced with explaining and reacting to real world situations.

im thinking confucianism.

And this proves the other point I was going to make. Mainly that the average person doesn't distinguish between philosophies s/he doesn't understand and religions. This seems to apply particularly to Oriental philosophies. Confucianism and Taoism are philosophies. Buddhism is a religion that is frequently embraced by Confucianists or Taoists, and which contains elements of those philosophies.

Jesus actually advocated violence and execution at the end of one of his parables. Luke 19:27 "But those enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them—bring them here and kill them in front of me."

Now, most Christians don't know about that. I think because most have never actually read their Bible (about 70% never have read it through, according to a recent survey on the Christian network TBN). When presented with it, they usually interpret it to mean something else. However, this verse was used to justify little things like the Crusades, executing heretics, and waging war against non-believers. Thus, it would seem that the historical interpretation is once of advocating violence.

The idea of Jesus as a peace loving hippy who taught never to judge and always to forgive is actually rather new.

That was part of a parable, it was not Christ's command to his followers.

I am pretty confident that our Holy Father, Pope Urban II, at his sermon at the Council of Claremont, which lauched the First Crusade, did not use Scripture in that manner to justify the Crusades. The Crusades were defensive actions to protect Christians in the Holy Land from attacks from members of the Religion of Peace, Islam. Attacks that were very similar to what we are dealing with today with terror. Some individual Christian warriors did get involved in some grevious events, but this was never sanctioned, and was actually condemed, by the Church.

Unlike Islam, which is a contrived and untrue faith based on the ravings of the merchant Mohammed, Christianity does not preach violence against unbelievers. In fact, we are commanded to love our enemies, just as God is perfect, so too are we called upon to strive for this same perfection.

No one has died in the name of religion, they have died due to people's interpretations of those religions.

Communism in the 1950's killed more people than all those other numbers combined. Most of the deaths attached to Christianity were about economics.

So let's re-cap.

Most of those deaths were about money.

The current Islamic nightmare is also about money.

When the oil runs out so does their political influence, if one looks at where the financing comes from it becomes a clear picture. If you look inward to your own emotions to explain things you only see what you don't like about yourself.

So basically, if you're blaming Christians and Muslims for todays problems, you are a lackey boy for some very rich Arab Princes.

"Catholicism
Protestant Religions"

Another name for that religion is "Christianity," you know.


You might not know this but Catholics and Protestant Religions are REALLY different from one another.

They say there are no atheists in foxholes. If you're going to lump Christianity into one category it's a shoo in.

well the catholics had the crusades, but that was also with the islamics. i dont know which one had the most cassualties. so they both get a point.

catholics killed heretics throughout the middle ages and a little beyond, islamics did pretty much the same and still do it in their islamic state countries. protestants also killed many catholics during the reformation in England and aslo witch hunts. but this round i will give to islamics.

in todays world, some say the current "war" on terror is a holy war, and with the leader (GWB) being a protestant then i will count it as protestant vs islamics. but... the US soldiers are not killing in the name of religion while the islamics that are killing the soldiers are. so i will also give this to the islamics.

just to give the protestants a point, there have been a few of them that have blown up abortion clinics and the like, so lets give them a point on that.


this was not supposed to be scientific or comedy or drama, or anything else, but the useless ramblings of a mad man whcih has concluded through his ramblings that islamics are the most killing killers

You might not know this but Catholics and Protestant Religions are REALLY different from one another.
No, no they aren't. Where'd you get that garbage?

Ok, how far back in time do we go? And are speaking relative numbers or actual numbers? I think Islam may have the record for actual numbers, but if we're talking poplulation percentages and overall death rate over time, the Jews and the Christians may be tied for first. This would require extensive research of course, and certain parameters would have to be delineated. Is this going to be as a result of religion-based wars? Or just persecution and genocide in general? Is it going to be based on one religion's attacks on another, or can internal killings count? There is just so much to take into consideration.

Three way Tie between Catholicism/Secularism/Islam

Catholicism-inquisition
Islam-Well...pretty much everyday
Secularism-China, Russia, Ukraine, etc...

Three way Tie between Catholicism/Secularism/Islam

Catholicism-inquisition
Islam-Well...pretty much everyday
Secularism-China, Russia, Ukraine, etc...

Wrong. The Mormons have killed way more than that through sheer boredom.

In my opinion:

Atheistic Utopianism, the dogmatic worship of man's own ability to create his own paradise apart from God, is responsible for the deaths of more innocents in the 20th Century than all the crusades, jihads, and witch hunts in all the rest of history combined.

In my opinion:

Atheistic Utopianism,
No such thing exists.

Please keep your hatred of those who don't believe in god to yourself. You aren't harmed by it.

A religion, being a belief system and thus an intangible idea, is as incapable of murder as a wristwatch is of emotion. As to whether what followers of a religion have killed the most, I'd have to say Christianity, if only because it's the largest religion in the world today and thus a proportionate percentage of violent criminals will be Christians of some denomination or other. Not to mention all of its crusades, witch trials, Inquisitions and the like of the past 12 centuries or so.

And people, Atheism is not a religion. It is the absence of religion. Please do not classify it as anything else.

I would have to say "Conservative Religious Leaders". It is a lack of tolerance and a love of political power by "religious" leaders that brings this condemnation on any religion. Name anyone of any religion that promoted mass killing or mass war that couldn't fall into this catagory.

Jesus pointed out that those in this catagory had killed all of the prophets and would kill him also.

Governments, especially Communist governments, kill the most people.

http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=489363

No such thing exists.

Please keep your hatred of those who don't believe in god to yourself. You aren't harmed by it.
We are all harmed by it every day. It's like witchcraft and horoscopes.

To attack the Church in this way is just simply in ignorance of history. I suppose if it fits your socialist doctrine though, it's useful. Remember your guiding hero, Vladimir Lenin, and his belief on morality: Unlike Christianity, which asserts that there exists objective truth, the only morality socialists recognize is whatever helps further their cause.

I still don't understand the profound self-hatred in the West these days. I know the socialists and "progressives" pump this through the government-controlled schools (which everyone praises as completely unbiased, lol), but just the same it seems so depressing. I hope we can recover from this era.

I was baptized Roman Catholic, went to parochial school and studied for seminary. I am NOT ignorant of the history of the Church by any shape of the imagination. It is you who are ignorant and blinded by your personal beliefs. I suppose it is comforting in some small way to hold an idealized view of the Mother Church, but this does you no good when intelligent people discuss real history.

I am curious to know how you explain 8 Crusades (more actually) and 3 Inquisitions. Such matters are history and have been in the public record for centuries.

And, at last my young friend, I do not attack the Church. Speaking of historical events that do not portray the Church in a flattering way is not ATTACKING the Church, it is speaking of history.

Such hard nosed, overly dogmatic views of Church doctrine is merely ONE of the reasons I did not follow through and be ordained. Other reasons include the rather dangerous influence certain lay ministries have on the hiearchy of the Church.

I am a Jesuit. I will always identify with my Jesuit roots. I choose not to follow a Church overly stratified and ruled by a man who would prejudically approach the existence of homosexuals, when a rather large percentage of the ecclesiastical community is homosexual.

I contend that the beatification of St. Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer, founder of Opus Dei brought the arch-conservative movement to the fore in the Church. The subsequent squelching of the Jesuit sect and the various punishments brought upon my sect for the egregious sin of subjecting the Vatican and the Papacy to scrutiny heretofore unheard of.

Papal Infalliballity is hogwash and returning to the harsher practices of the Councils of Trent are horrifically dangerous and narrow minded.

This award goes to the Catholics.

(ALthough I do believe the Russian Orthodox church should be an option if this is about Martyrdom)

We are all harmed by it every day. It's like witchcraft and horoscopes.
You're harmed simply by someone not believing in god? How so?

The Hebrew Scriptures were meant for a specific people at a specific time. God urged them to war for reasons having to do with his intention of revealing a greater point.

I get it. So it's justified when Judaism and Christianity texts urge war. And not justified when Islamic texts do. So the Bible was written for a specific people at a specific time. But the Koran was meant solely for terrorists.

And the only people who disagree are of course self-hating, leftist, socialists...

Maybe you should change your account name to something like "Lies and Excuses." Bit more accurate.

And, in general, religious people have done more to maintain peace throughout the world than decadent people, who worship government in the place of God.

I am not religious.

So I must "worship government?"

My fat hairy ass. Your assumptions show only your own bigotry and ignorance, and belie a bunker-mentality that's sadly typical of intolerant fundamentalists such as yourself.

Nazi Germany was not secular (it was catholic/lutheran). Stalin was Russian Orthodox, and eventually relented to having open religions after the populace got pissed at him.

You might just want to get your facts straight before you post.

Where are you getting this from? The Soviet Union was fiercely atheistic.

christianity.

Heheh shit, and I always thought it was people that killed people.

Man we don't really need any excuses to do so, we have after all been doing it since we cralwed out of the mud, but as excuses goes religion is a most used one. Really though I guess we can use any diffeance between us, shit just how imuch more intelegent than the other beast are we agian? heh I keep forgetting.

I just over heard my mom saying she wants to know how many people have been killed by "The Religion of Peace" (Islam) but to be fair I want to know how many have died in the name of Christianity and other religions. I tried looking it up, but I couldn't find anything. I really want to see a comparison, can anyone help me?

so many have died in the name of"god" it is to pathetic to argue...let me say first,i was an alter boy,and my mom was a saint..but religion..no thanks!

religeons don't kill people. people fanaticly pretending to fallow religeons kill people.

just like guns. guns don't kill people either. people WITH guns kill people.

=^^=
.../\...

religeons don't kill people. people fanaticly pretending to fallow religeons kill people.

just like guns. guns don't kill people either. people WITH guns kill people.

=^^=
.../\...

*grins*

Ok, so I have no problem with Islam.

I just have a problem with people with Islam.

PS: actually, this was parody, and not serious. I am highly sceptic about the islam/terror linkage.

Well, I think its Islam, but it could be the Catholic Church. There was the whole Crusades and many battles for Jerusalem. The again, Judaism caused a lot of deaths, not on purpose of course; those who followed it just had bad luck.

The deseases didn't kill in the name of religion- they were impartial. Unless you mean to say missionaries purposefully spread them to kill Pegans then I can't so those count...Well, yes. Plenty of Europeans purposely gave pox-ridden blankets to the natives when they came to North America, even some missionaries. That was about killing those different from them in skin color though, religion was something Europeans killed other Europeans about. North America was ripe for converts so their side could win back home.
We are all harmed by it every day. It's like witchcraft and horoscopes.Excuse me? I have to just say, Bullshit. How are you harmed by what someone else believes? By that logic, I am harmed by all of the religious people of the world every day, and here I've been leaving them alone since my philosophy has been "to each his own."

Why do so many religious people seem to want to be persecuted? You can't get most Christians excited in church, but let them talk to any non-believer for 10 minutes and they'll convince themselves they're being attacked for their beliefs...

Let's all just agree that we can each do whatever we like without harming the other and we all can get along just fine, okay?

Heheh shit, and I always thought it was people that killed people.

Man we don't really need any excuses to do so, we have after all been doing it since we cralwed out of the mud, but as excuses goes religion is a most used one. Really though I guess we can use any diffeance between us, shit just how imuch more intelegent than the other beast are we agian? heh I keep forgetting.



can i kiss you..lol

Where are you getting this from? The Soviet Union was fiercely atheistic.
Wrong. Communism is the religion of state/party/collective worship. It's Hegel minus the supernatural crap.

I get the same quotes from Old Testament Scripture again and again, from people who have never even studied the thing. They must be compiled on a leftist website or from President Bartlett on the West Wing.

The Hebrew Scriptures were meant for a specific people at a specific time. God urged them to war for reasons having to do with his intention of revealing a greater point.

As for now, we are under the mandate of Christ, the most perfect Lawmaker, and there are no such provisions for violence.

And, in general, religious people have done more to maintain peace throughout the world than decadent people, who worship government in the place of God.

This is EXACTLY what many Muslims now believe about the Qur'an (specifically in relation to the haddith penalties). There is the theory that the Qur'an is a guide for a perfect Muslim society, which does not exist on the earth at this time, therefore some flexibility is required. Given this fact, you must logically apply your defence of (Old Testament) Christianity to Islam also.

I understand that you're coming from a direction of devout faith, but in intellectual debate, personal religious beliefs must be acknowledged as just that in order to keep the debate healthy and open.

Why on earth do you link quotes from the Old Testament with so-called "leftists" anyway?!

In general, this is a dubious topic, there are no fixed figures so it's impossible to even make a guess at which religion has been responsible for or been invoked for the most murder.

I have to ask all those people who have said "probably Islam" what they're basing this on? Contemporary propaganda I would guess, but if you have some actual statistics to back this assertion up with, please feel free to supply them.

can i kiss you..lol

Hahah shit yeah if you like. Wait are you a man? ohh damn it the answer would still be yes, but not on the mouth okay!

well the catholics had the crusades, but that was also with the islamics. i dont know which one had the most cassualties. so they both get a point.

catholics killed heretics throughout the middle ages and a little beyond, islamics did pretty much the same and still do it in their islamic state countries. protestants also killed many catholics during the reformation in England and aslo witch hunts. but this round i will give to islamics.

in todays world, some say the current "war" on terror is a holy war, and with the leader (GWB) being a protestant then i will count it as protestant vs islamics. but... the US soldiers are not killing in the name of religion while the islamics that are killing the soldiers are. so i will also give this to the islamics.

just to give the protestants a point, there have been a few of them that have blown up abortion clinics and the like, so lets give them a point on that.


this was not supposed to be scientific or comedy or drama, or anything else, but the useless ramblings of a mad man whcih has concluded through his ramblings that islamics are the most killing killers

It's Muslims, not Islamics. And what? Why?! No, deffinately not scientific. I think you'll probably find that a lot of US soldiers are Christian and some may believe that they are doing God's will or some other religious excuse (while many also see the whole war as the whim of a madman) and many of the people they are fighting are simply defending themselves and fighting to end the illegal occupation of their country!

Although it's difficult to discern your tone, you may have intended this rambling to be ironic, in which case, I apologise.

Other. Satism, duh. NOT SATANISM, SATISM. Satism, for those of you who don't know, they sacrifice small children every time they meet. Not very popular now. Oh, and for some rituals I hear they sacrifice sheep, lambs, and goats.

Other. Satism, duh. NOT SATANISM, SATISM. Satism, for those of you who don't know, they sacrifice small children every time they meet. Not very popular now. Oh, and for some rituals I hear they sacrifice sheep, lambs, and goats.

If this was true then they wouldn't exist anymore, for no religion can survive without newcomers, and as you said, they would get few newcomers for the past couple of hundred years. The years when people really started multiplying.

Also, if you think this even comes close to the mass killings of the crusades and the inquisition, you are sadly mistaken. We studied those this past year in school, and Christianity has by far the most killings- killings by the order of various popes, killings unordered, and more.

If this was true then they wouldn't exist anymore, for no religion can survive without newcomers, and as you said, they would get few newcomers for the past couple of hundred years. The years when people really started multiplying.

Also, if you think this even comes close to the mass killings of the crusades and the inquisition, you are sadly mistaken. We studied those this past year in school, and Christianity has by far the most killings- killings by the order of various popes, killings unordered, and more.

Nuh-uh.

The Aztecs killed dozens of people daily through human sacrifice for as many as 300 years, some times reaching heights that are estimated to be around 5-20 thousand daily (during festivals and what not).
And that doesn't even include all the people they killed in their wars (which were plentiful)

Oh, wow.

A lot of false assumptions being made here. I will grant everyone that this thread's poll is not a very good poll.

Earlier on, Smunkeeville asserted that no religion has killed anybody, while this may be technically true per se, it is not an accurate assertion overall.

In the specific case of Roman Catholicism, the highest authority figure in it, various Popes, have ordered crusades and inquisitions that have been responsible for a distressingly large number of deaths over the millenia. In part these crusades were participated in by various other religions. In the case of Islam, they killed Catholics in response to their crusades at the behest of muezzins and mullahs, in the name of the Prophet.

It is clear that organized religions have committed war on other organized religions in various fights for religious supremacy. This is beyond question.

Protestantism is the descriptive term used to divide various faiths from Roman Catholicism (Lutheranism and Calvinism in specific as they were the initial protestors of the RC faith and it's leadership, this list later branched out to what we see today).

Christianity, of itself is a religion that pays obeisance to the life of Jesus Christ, this encompasses Catholicism, Episcopalianism, Presbyterianism and the large number of Protestant faiths, including the Russian Orthodox Church which broke with the mother Church.

Without question, the religion that has been responsible for the largest number of deaths by it's own orders, neglect and wars is Roman Catholicism. It is followed closely by the faith of Islam.

1. Roman Catholicism
2. Church of Islam

Nothing else comes even close to these two.

Judaism has suffered a great number of deaths by the hands of others, but has not directly ordered via it's offices or various Rabbinical councils the death of others in sufficient numbers to make it close to the butcher's bill rung up by Catholicism and Islam.

The only reason less people have been killed by protestant religions is because they haven't been around as long.
In the last 300 years I'd wager to say that more people have died because of various protestant faiths then died in any inquisition.

Nazi Germany was not secular (it was catholic/lutheran). Stalin was Russian Orthodox, and eventually relented to having open religions after the populace got pissed at him.

You might just want to get your facts straight before you post.


Nazi Germany's population may have been reared to those religions. However the Nazis heavily discouraged Christianity, and put anyone regularly attending Sermon and Mass on official watch lists. They were even contemplating to scrap Christmas as a holiday.

Hitler personally hated Christianity in general, he preferred Paganism, seeing paganism as the true German religion back in the barbaric days, he saw Christianity as ungerman. So please tell me how Nazi Germany was anything but secular when it put anyone attending masses on government watch lists and heavily discouraged any religious affiliations?

Stalinist Russia was Russian Orthodox,........ yes as a matter of fact his whole government wasn't based on Marx's teachings to some degree and the familiar term "Opium für's Volk"? It was in some respects a communist or at least a repressive partially communist state, the term is up to you. And the last I believed communism didn't take such a high approach on religion now did they? Or was it simply voodoo magic that made the police and government officials confiscate Churches and transform them into bureacratic buildings, or take some lands and buildings. Heck even kill and imprison priests. Yes that is a very pro-religious state and all there crimes can only be traced back to one thing,.... Christianity :rolleyes:

Really you are deluding yourself, with either prejudice, or this was a very feeble attempt to show wisdom. Either way it was rather droll and tiring to have to waste time answering to such an uninformed post. Not to mention scary that there are people in this world with such lack of common knowledge and intelligence. I hope for you, that your are still very young and uninformed, if not I feel the education system has completely failed on all levels.

Religion doesn't kill people. People kill people. :rolleyes:

Well, does the destruction of South America go on the account of Catholicism or not?


I believe the Pope didn't order that, It was greed that destroyed South America, greed of the Portoguese and the Spanish nothing else. The only thing which may pull the Catholic Church into it is that they after the Spanish subdued the natives was that some thought they might lighten up the lives of the trodden down natives by so-called converting them to the right religion. However the initial conquering, subdueing and even partial genocides had absolutely nothing to do with Roman Catholicism.

The deaths occured when Cat Stevens and Pope Urban XII formed an alliance. This alliance was called Bahai'ism. Since then it has killed over 12,000,000,000 people.

Well I don't really know. I thinks it's a close tie between Islam and Catholicism, but I voted Islam. For the most part the Catholics have stopped killing in the name of religion, but the Musilms have continued w/ terrorist attacks and the like. That, added to the toll of the Crusades and such makes me think Islam, but I could be wrong.

Well I don't really know. I thinks it's a close tie between Islam and Catholicism, but I voted Islam. For the most part the Catholics have stopped killing in the name of religion, but the Musilms have continued w/ terrorist attacks and the like. That, added to the toll of the Crusades and such makes me think Islam, but I could be wrong.


Well also taking into account that Christianity is 600 years older than Islam, it is already quite striking if they in fact do have equal tallies. But I stick with my previous opinion, no religion kills people, on deluded people kill people.

Well, does the destruction of South America go on the account of Catholicism or not?

Depends how you look at it. Missionary zeal was also a factor (apart from plain old greed and fear/hatred of the unknown).

If you wanna know more about Catholic church's involvement, look up Treaty of Zaragosa.

Well also taking into account that Christianity is 600 years older than Islam, it is already quite striking if they in fact do have equal tallies. But I stick with my previous opinion, no religion kills people, on deluded people kill people.

True, deluded people kill people.

I don't think its really a fair comparison. I mean, Christianity has a 600 year head start. But given technology and the massive amounts of people that live and work in the same areas, its a lot easier to kill more people with less effort. Most of Christianity has eased up on the killing of people, excepting the occassional whack-jobs who blow up abortion clinics, etc. So since most killing these days seems to go on in the name of Islam, I would think that the Muslims are catching up to the Catholics and Christians pretty quickly.

If both religions had started at the same time, and had the same technology (or lack thereof), I'm pretty confident Christianity would win, in particular the Roman Catholics.
*gives sticker to Catholic faith*

Christianity...But NOT because christians are worse than others but because they were stronger than others. Since renaissance, Europe used to dominate the world and then passed it to USA.
When muslims were powerful, they attacked many places including Spain and Balkans. If a muslim nation was as strong as UK in 19th century, or if the muslims could have developed ocean fearing in 15th century, their killings might have exceeded christians...

during the british civil war in which my ancestors were loyal to the king
it was decided that protestants would be the main religion(excuse grammer)
since britain owned 1/2 the world protestants run the most poweful countries
(canada, america , austraila and of course britain)

The religion of Communism has killed approximately 100 million in the 20th century. I don't think any other religion comes close.

The religion of Communism has killed approximately 100 million in the 20th century. I don't think any other religion comes close.

True, but I don't think Commies like religion at all anyway, heh.

True, but I don't think Commies like religion at all anyway, heh.

No, not traditional religions, but the argument could be made that belief in communism mirrors religious faith in almost every aspect, including a cult of personality found in many religions.

No, not traditional religions, but the argument could be made that belief in communism mirrors religious faith in almost every aspect, including a cult of personality found in many religions.

Mao comes to mind. Red Guards marching carrying banners of him and a little 'bible' of his quotes while wearing pins with his profile engraved.

no body seems to remember the Islamic turkish advances into Europe in 1686 and the seige of Vienna, Austria. They were ready to take over the entire European continent. Only a Polish king, Jan Sobieski III with a Christian army defeated the Turks, saving Vienna. So does that mean that the Christian religion was bad in what it did too?

Nazi Germany's population may have been reared to those religions. However the Nazis heavily discouraged Christianity,
That's news to Adolf Hitler, who remained Catholic his whole life.



Hitler personally hated Christianity in general, he preferred Paganism, seeing paganism as the true German religion back in the barbaric days, he saw Christianity as ungerman.
You have Hitler confused with Himmler.


Stalinist Russia was Russian Orthodox,........ yes as a matter of fact his whole government wasn't based on Marx's teachings to some degree and the familiar term "Opium für's Volk"? It was in some respects a communist or at least a repressive partially communist state, the term is up to you. And the last I believed communism didn't take such a high approach on religion now did they?
Sure it does--just like all religious adherants believe they have the One True Religion. Communists just obfuscate and dissemble so that it doesn't appear they are religious. However, communism is the ultimate in state-and-collective worship, complete with rites.

Really, you have bought into the lies you were taught in school. I suggest that you educate yourself and learn the reality of the situation.

True, deluded people kill people.

I don't think its really a fair comparison. I mean, Christianity has a 600 year head start. But given technology and the massive amounts of people that live and work in the same areas, its a lot easier to kill more people with less effort. Most of Christianity has eased up on the killing of people, excepting the occassional whack-jobs who blow up abortion clinics, etc. So since most killing these days seems to go on in the name of Islam, I would think that the Muslims are catching up to the Catholics and Christians pretty quickly.

If both religions had started at the same time, and had the same technology (or lack thereof), I'm pretty confident Christianity would win, in particular the Roman Catholics.
*gives sticker to Catholic faith*

ARGH!!!!!!!!!!! :headbang: For crying outloud! Don't you see that terrorist attacks are "occassional whack-jobs" too?!!!!!!!!! And what about Bush's "war on terror"? I'd say, given that he is an "out" Christian and claims to talk to God and do what he's told by the very same deity, his invasions of Afganistan and Iraq could be classed as religious in nature. (Along with financial, vengeful, power-hungry etc, etc.)

Then there's all the animosity between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland, not so violent these days, but until recently people were being killed on both sides of that argument. Not to mention various other civil wars across the globe that are between sects and denominations of various religions and racial groups.

I think you should re-evaluate your claim that "most killing these days seems to go on in the name of Islam".

Silly poll. Religion doesn't kill people; idiots who follow people who tell them what the religion says kill people.

ARGH!!!!!!!!!!! :headbang: For crying outloud! Don't you see that terrorist attacks are "occassional whack-jobs" too?!!!!!!!!! And what about Bush's "war on terror"? I'd say, given that he is an "out" Christian and claims to talk to God and do what he's told by the very same deity, his invasions of Afganistan and Iraq could be classed as religious in nature. (Along with financial, vengeful, power-hungry etc, etc.)

Then there's all the animosity between Catholics and Protestants in Ireland, not so violent these days, but until recently people were being killed on both sides of that argument. Not to mention various other civil wars across the globe that are between sects and denominations of various religions and racial groups.

I think you should re-evaluate your claim that "most killing these days seems to go on in the name of Islam".

No, your right, terrorists are the occassional whackjobs, i didn't mean to impy otherwise. Its just that a) they get a LOT more press coverage, and b) it seems these occassional whackjobs kill shitloads more people with one blow than whackjobs of other faiths.

probably the aztecs-you know with the human sacrifices, then christianity, then islam.

probably the aztecs-you know with the human sacrifices, then christianity, then islam.I don't think there ever was that many Aztecs

I thought it meant deaths in comparison to the number of followers, but your probably right.:)

Nazi Germany may have ordered a genocide...but it was Christians who perpetuate the anti-semitism in the first place and carried out the genocide...

I say Christians are the religions that persecuted and killed people more than any other religion...

Nazi Germany may have ordered a genocide...but it was Christians who perpetuate the anti-semitism in the first place and carried out the genocide...

I say Christians are the religions that persecuted and killed people more than any other religion...

Agreed.

If I were a christian at this point I'll say "but they aren't true christians, christanism is a religion of love!".

Agreed.

If I were a christian at this point I'll say "but they aren't true christians, christanism is a religion of love!".
I don't know of any major religion that isn't the religion of love. Every one I've read about has something near "do unto others".

On the other and I've never heard of Buhdists ever commiting mass murder (don't know what those guys in Cambodia were) or even major war. So there must be something about the three great religions of Abraham that they are easy to warp.

I return to my theory that the greatest killers are religious conservatives of all kinds. Somehow reaching for political power changes beliefs.

Agreed.

If I were a christian at this point I'll say "but they aren't true christians, christanism is a religion of love!".

Okay. There are plenty of maniacs in the world who are willing to do anything to achieve their means. This includes, but is not limited to, taking a popular religion and using it as a tool for destruction.

The fact is, a religious text like the bible is so long and filled with narrative that it can be used to back even the most rediculous claims. The problem is, when that kind of thing gets taken out of context, people use it to say, "See everyone! God hates Jews!" even though that is clearly never the intention of the bible.

On an even deeper level, the problem with religion is that it creates loyalty and pride among its members. People forget that the point of a religion isn't to have the most members, although converting can be a part of it. When one people believe that the religion of another people is a threat to theirs, they want to destroy it. But there you go again. Religion isn't about who can collect the most followers or which one is "better."

And that's why human nature ultimately conflicts with religion and causes a lot of people to get killed for no good reason.

That is not to say, however, that religion is a bad thing. But people need to understand what religion actually IS.