Terrorist attack, Christchurch NZ

Anyway, this shooter guy, it’s just impossible to work out where he might have got his crazy ideas from

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It’s refreshing.
I see people saying left wing, right wing, ALP etc etc and have no idea what any of it means.
Does mean I have to scroll past a butt load of posts in a thread like this though.

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Yeah. Without religion nothing bad would happen and people would just be great.

The whole fairytale/tooth fairy thing sounds really clever and dismissive but as a genuine comparison it just doesn’t stack up.

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Fair dinkum, it’s 24 hours since the act of terror and there is a ■■■■■■■ in here calling out the left for violence.

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Should atheism be taught in schools?

Not saying that at all. All humans have faults in them and there still would be violence but fighting wars and killing each other over a fairytale is just baffling

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100%, and he chooses this event to crawl back in… what a ■■■■

Perhaps science?

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How long until it’s okay?

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I used to believe that if religion vanished overnight it would solve a lot of problems, though I was never quite naive enough to believe that the actual process of getting rid of religion wouldn’t cause more problems than it solved.

I don’t believe that any more. People find reasons to hate each other out of deep-seated psychological urges, whether that’s inferiority complexes, finding an in-group that already believes that stuff, resentment at their economic situation, or whatever. Religion is a following indicator. Most people, without doing the actual conscious calculation, think ‘I belong to religion X, I believe Y, therefore it is true to religion X to believe thing Y’. We pick the bits of religion (or other belief systems) that suit our culture and prejudices, and generally ignore the rest.

These modern online alt-right neo-fascist white nationalist types aren’t religious at all. Far as I can tell, they mock actual sincere BELIEF in damn near anything, and they have nothing but scorn for Christianity’s instructions to ‘love thy enemy, turn the other cheek, etc etc’. They follow an idealised CULTURAL image of the west rather than a religious one, believing that it created the enlightenment and the scientific method and industrialisation and democracy and vacuum cleaners and all that stuff (while not actually knowing much about the nuts and bolts of the history of any of those things). Technological, material, and military achievement is their measuring stick for success, and that’s about as anti-Christian an ideology as you could ever hope to imagine.

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they’re also a pack of moronic capitalists on welfare.

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Way to completely miss the point.

You don’t need to preach religion in order to educate people about it. You don’t have to believe in religion or God, to understand how crucial it is to the basis of our culture. So much of our secular systems of morality and law are based in the various types of religion and philosophy. Which is exactly the point that extremists and terrorists cannot understand.

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The behaviour of the young lad wasn’t completely harmless and he went there with a purpose. The actions by the speaker was a complete over reaction in retaliation.

Violence in all its forms is responsible for most of humanities problems. If each of us can begin to become aware of our thoughts, words and action and be responsible for the consequences of them, the world may become a better place for all sentient beings. Until then, we will all continue to suffer.

I did not miss the point, we were talking about it being very difficult to not teach religion as part of history. Then it was brought up about having a general subject on religion, rather than a particular faith.

Well why cannot atheism be part of that? People have also been persecuted for a long time over not following a god at all, and it is linked in with history.

Like the lefty that shot Jo Cox?

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It ought to a legitimate way of believing however a general lack of tolerance which is because of a lack of understanding. Sadly, we all have these same vices.

They’ll be the one claiming victimisation soon.

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You are absolutely on the money, we are living in a society where the victim archetype is running riot.
Its becoming a most interesting time for people who like people watching, may have to start wearing armour.

What it means sure just like any other choicd. This is the big hangup of aussies with a public education… Só many do not get it.

It is vital to understand religion and its place in the world. (or lack thereof either on principle or otherwise)

Not only do think it was harmless, I also thought it was fabulous. Allow me to explain.

Anning’s tweets, his comments, his statement etc have all been shared and discussed and dissected at length over the past 24 hours, including by mainstream media, the PM etc etc. Almost all of the discussion has been negative towards Anning but it’s still been counterproductive. By giving those views such a prominent public platform, it legitimises them.

Instead, those sorts of views should be ignored and/or ridiculed. Comedy is a perfect way to ridicule something. By making something a subject of ridicule, you take all the power and legitimacy out of it. And there’s nothing more ridiculous and funny than having an egg broken over your head.

Anning shouldn’t be discussed, and analysed, and condemned, he should simply have eggs broken over his head and have people laugh at how ridiculous he is.

Laughter and ridicule is how you really destroy an idea. That kid and his egg did more to destroy Anning than 100 Waleed Aly monologues or newspaper editorials

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