Rosie equates radical Christians to radical Muslims

[harrisonsdream]

well dogs really do have antiseptic in their spit--that's why they lick their own wounds. but rosie is nuts

[Ste9]

That's just crazy. We did not take innocent lives in the name of God. The hijackers took control of those airliners and crashed them in the name of Allah. The people on those planes and in those buildings were INNOCENT people. They were not in the military, they were not part of an illegal militia, and they were not part of a terrorist network.

[dollface]

I am not certain of what Rosie’s intention was or what she was equating it to but perhaps she was referring to the fact that there are extremist in both Christianity and Muslim religions. Christians have a long history of violence and battles brought about in the name of the Lord. It does not necessary reflect the religion itself but the extremist within that religion. How many people were murdered because they would not convert to Christianity in previous centuries? How many people were enslaved and/or murdered in the name of the Lord because they were not of “pure race” (i.e. extremist groups like KKK and individuals acting on their own…slave-owners, etc.) ? Another good point brought up …how many people were murdered in the name of the Lord outside of abortion clinics? They are killing in the name of the Lord because they believe that God has compelled them to rid the world of people who go against their God and his principals.. My point is….radical or extreme “Christians” have had a long history of murder and torture … all in the name of the Lord. Many battles have been waged and many men, women and children have be murdered and or died in the name of the Lord. It is certainly not specific to this generations bout with terrorism or any religion in particular. I would say, however, that her statement could be considered an accurate statement…depending on how you read into.

I would read up on the history of violence in Christianity. Its very interesting.

[mara_jade81]

Radical Christians yes... Unfortunately I find it hard to actually name people who do things like that as Christian.

I for one DO NOT believe in a God who could condone killing innocent people or torturing them just because he felt like it. There was a good article in the newspaper about things like this yesterday.

And as for us killing people in the Middle East, it bothers me but they are killing just as many of their own people as we are.

[dollface]

I don't think that muslims condoned what occurred in 09-11, nor do I think it is part of their religion. I believe Rosie's main point may have been (and I could be wrong) is that the 9-11 event (and current war) was/are headed by extremist ... who claim a certain religion or movement. This can be equated to various other extremists who claim to be a part of religions or movements (such as Christianity). Some forms of relgious violence and terrorism are not as direct as apparent as say...a plane going into a building, however, no less significant (i.e. massive KKK killings/individual lynching in the name of the Lord, Hitlers crusaide and mass murder in the name of the Lord). There are extremists to any religion and we know that they do not represent the entire relgion so it would be accurate to say that you can compare christian and muslim extremists. You may not see today's Christians throw a plane into a building of another country but innocent lives have been lost to our own homegrown terrorism. Radicals exist everywhere...just because they don't all use "shock an awe" to get their point across, does not make them any less of a threat...to some extent. These are just some other viewpoints to think about with respect to why she may have made the comparison of extremists in each religion. I hope that made sense...lol.

As far as why we are at war...I won't even get into that because I am unclear myself.

Jesus believing Christians and Allah believing Muslims...what is the difference? Both are religions and both believe in a higher power. Neither official advocate violence yet extremist exist in both and many murders have occurred on a continual basis since the dawn of time...in their "higher power"'s name. Relgion has such a strong foundation in the lives of many...and for many...it means how they will live out the "afterlife". The fear of the unknown and/or the almighty...leads to extremists. Extremists will cloud/tarnish the perception of whatever religion they are behind. I hope I made sense...I know I did a lot of rambling and probably jumping from point to point. There are so many aspects of this topic and past events...that it is difficult to stay on point. It breaks down into SO MANY levels.

This is something very interesting and helps to explain the point I belive Rosie was trying to make.

Religious violence is a term whose use is generally very imprecise. It is commonly encountered in the media and popular discourse to cover a large variety of phenomena. Theoretically we could stipulate that any intersection of religion and violence may be termed religious violence. In practice an approach of this sort is rarely taken.

Generally, religious violence covers all phenomena where religion, in any of its forms, is either the subject or object of individual or collective violent behaviour. Concretely, it covers both violence by religious actors (religiously motivated individuals or religious institutions) against objects of any kind, be they of the same religion or not (including secular targets). The other case is of violence by actors of any kind (religious or not, individual or collective) against objects that are explicitly religious (religious institutions, the persecution of people on the basis of their religion, religious buildings or sites).

Religious violence, like all violence, is an inherently cultural process whose meanings are context-dependent. It may be worth noting that religious violence often tends to place great emphasis on the symbolic aspect of the act. If we emphasise religious violence as primarily the domain of the violent actor then we may distinguish individual and collective forms of violence.

[edit]
Individual religious violence
Individual religious violence deals primarily with actions perpetrated by individuals acting on their own, often outside the context of wider society. Examples would include self-mutilatory behavior such as stigmata, whipping, flagellation, wearing thigh straps with nails and so forth. These kinds of acts may sometimes be characterised as deviant when they are radically different from prevailing social norms. When they are not radically different from prevailing norms, they are generally characterised not as religious violence but as a variety of ascetic religious practice.

[edit]
Collective religious violence
Collective religious violence is what we more commonly picture when we think of religious violence. The term "collective" refers, in effect, to any violent activity that is perpetrated within the context of society, is legitimated by at least a subset of society or religion and always has a political dimension. Note that the term "collective" does not mean that a single individual cannot undertake collective religious violence - a single suicide bomber's attack is collective just as much as the mass suicide in Jonestown.

In most instances, serious religious violence is perpetrated by individuals belonging to social groups whose religious zeal and conviction exceed that of an average member of the wider society, although milder forms, such as verbal abuse or ostracism, can be habitually practiced by larger communities. The range of religious violence is varied, and in its more serious forms it often involves illegal means (although in some instances, the use of religious violence can be sanctioned and even undertaken by the government), such as physical abuse and vandalism, and in more extreme cases, torture or murder. Religious terrorism is one form of religious violence; the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center are thus an extreme example of religious violence. In 1986, science fiction author Tom Ligon wrote [The Devil and the Deep Black Void"] about a Muslim terrorist attempting to crash a spaceship into the earth. Human sacrifice and perhaps animal sacrifice are also forms of collective religious violence.

It's worth noting that even though in many instances religion is used to justify violent behavior, the immediate motivations of the individuals involved may not be religious as such and the overall goals of such behavior may be cultural, personal or even economical. An example of this is the organized violence directed against black people during the American Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968) - the Ku Klux Klan made a strong point of being a Christian organization and often used this to justify its active stance against desegregation and racial integration, but despite this, the Klan's actions were motivated more by racism and intolerance than religious beliefs[citation needed].

Some contrast religious with sectarian violence, which is conflict between different sects of one religion. This contrast, however, is difficult to maintain, as there is no way to empirically distinguish between "sects" and "religions" in a non-arbitrary way.

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religious_violence"

[PrincessMia]

Originally Posted by Erika I can actually see where she should be coming from in making the statement of radical Christians. There are Christians who bomb abortion clinics, kill the doctors who work there, etc all in the name of God. Did she actually mean it in that context, probably not. Any generalization on a religion should not be made, regardless if it is Christianty or the Muslim religion. There are excpetions to EVERY religion. She has taken it way to far, her views of religion are incredibly skewed. I've never been a fan.

ITA!!

[PrincessMia]

Originally Posted by Lighthouse Girl Um...yeah it was disturbing...I saw the footage on a news clip. Elizabeth's baby had a bad diaper rash. Rosie said "I have kids and the pediatrician told me to do this...it works!" and said to take your baby to somebody that has puppies, let the puppies lick their butt because apparently there's some sort of antiseptic in puppies mouths. And that's supposed to clear up the diaper rash. I couldn't believe it either. I'm not taking my baby over to a friends house so the puppy can lick her butt. That's what triple cream ointment is for. Or desinex. Or you know...cornstarch...baby powder...things that NORMAL people use. That was last week. Now this this week. Maybe next week she'll say that the Pope has 4 illegitimate children.

Ummmm, in my opinion that is sick and to think that she even suggested that someone do this is wrong on so many levels. I would never subject my future children to this...I mean isn't that what diaper rash ointment is for? It makes me wonder what Rosie does with diaper rash ointment?

[Hatetank]

Historically speaking, Rosie's right. Christians have waged genocide campaigns against every other belief system for CENTURIES. Racism has it's roots in Christianity just as much as ignorance. Hitler even hid behind Christianity and racial superiority to justify the extermination of the Jews. Ed Gein was a fanatical christian.

Christians are by no means, peaceful. As stated before, they still openly attack those who don't share their views. While a HUGE majority of people wouldn't dare send a letter bomb to an abortion clinic or assault a gay couple, many agree with the core principle behind the attack.

Something about relegion brings out a little bit of fanatic in all of us. This can probably be linked to man's eternal search for meaning, and the fear associated with uncertainty. As we know, fear is a prerequisite for anger, hatred and aggression - all of which have been expressed with terms such as "Crusades", "ethnic cleansing" and "Greater Moral Good".

Just the observations of an unbiased hethen.

[amandalaine]

I only have one thing to say...

My ex boyfriend was in the Army on a tank in Iraq when the war started and ended, and he is Jewish. I don't think he would have been there if we were fighting for Jesus.

[Sophie*]

Originally Posted by amandalaine I only have one thing to say... My ex boyfriend was in the Army on a tank in Iraq when the war started and ended, and he is Jewish. I don't think he would have been there if we were fighting for Jesus.

Bush said in a speech that he was on a mission from God. I'm pretty sure the Jewish community believe in God.