Religion???????????????????

[ade]

Violence, self-interest and greed are traits of human beings, not of religion. Stalin and Hitler killed millions of innocent people because they felt like it, not because of any religious belief.[/quote]franz

'
"My feelings as a Christian points me to my Lord and Savior as a fighter. It points me to the man who once in loneliness, surrounded only by a few followers, recognized these Jews for what they were and summoned men to fight against them and who, God's truth! was greatest not as a sufferer but as a fighter. .. How terrific was His fight for the world against the Jewish poison."[
adolf hitler
1927

[Franz]

Violence, self-interest and greed are traits of human beings, not of religion. Stalin and Hitler killed millions of innocent people because they felt like it, not because of any religious belief.

franz

'
"My feelings as a Christian points me to my Lord and Savior as a fighter. It points me to the man who once in loneliness, surrounded only by a few followers, recognized these Jews for what they were and summoned men to fight against them and who, God's truth! was greatest not as a sufferer but as a fighter. .. How terrific was His fight for the world against the Jewish poison."[
adolf hitler
1927

I know Hitler was nominally a Christian, but his Christianity isn't what really motivated him and isn't what brought him to power. He understood the Church's usefulness as a conduit of authority and social control, but from what I understand he was in no way really a religious man.

Besides, Hitler's interpretation of Christianity was so twisted that it seems unreasonable to blame his actions on Christianity.

[ade]

Franz
thank you for your intelligent reply.But i dont blame christianity,i blame the whole over arcing concept of religion for providing the conduit you speak of for deluded sociopaths to carry out acts of mass murder.the 21st century epidemic of suicide bombing is an example.these people are convinced they are acting out gods will.whilst this idea remains,there will always be this obscene level of slaughter of the innocent,except to the bomber,they are not innocent.so it really seems to me that we have reached an almost personalised apocalypse,one religion fighting another,both(or all) convinced they have the support of god.i am happily married to a devout catholic,and had a previous relationship with a Jewish woman of russian extraction whose grand parents fled anti-semitic persecution.these relationships have greatly informed my views.i love the utter beauty in some peoples faith but i find organised religion,as you yourself said,an all to easily found conduit for the evil that it purports to fight.how can the specific religion abdicate its responsibilty,for example,for the death of the 13 yr old girl in Somalia,buried up to her neck and stoned to death.her crime?adultery, she was gang raped.the surrounding religious doctrine informs those fanatics that this is correct and gods will under sharia law.there are just too many examples of this, on a macro and micro scale,throughout history.this is my view,and it is a view of a structure,an edifice,not a view of individual people.people are capable of a spiritual beauty that for me,is the zenith of existence but it is my unwavering view that religion as a structure is inherently dangerous.
a previous post details my suffering at the hands of the catholic church
i was sexually abused (another epidemic) please dont tell me that the church is not responsible for that too.its time to own these evils done in gods name,then maybe we can move on.my views are strong i admit,but i am as entitled to them as you are yours.i wish you peace and love
ade x