Re:Great Quote from the Article (Score 1)

Arthur, it's one set of people perceiving themselves as different from (and by implication superior to) another

Yes, but the problem is that nearly all religions actually encourage people to perceive themselves as different, or superior, if they belong to that religion.

if man hadn't used religion as an excuse for this despicable behaviour, we'd have used something else instead.

Really? So the Crusades, for instance, would have still happened if there wasn't a religious basis for it? I doubt it very much.

I don't believe we need to cite historical evidence for Clarke's statement. We're supplying plenty in this thread. Sure, a flame war hasn't erupted, largely due to the fact that the majority of /. readers are a bit more mature than that, but the comment obviously ruffled some feathers.

I think that's what makes Clarke's statement relevant. The trouble isn't religion itself, it's the way religion has become so embedded into our brains. To generalize, to hear religion challenged is abhorrent to everything we know. And often, it's taken as a call to arms.

I good /. parallel would be a post defending MS's abuse of their monopoly.

Lots of things can be "mind-virii" ... religion is one of the most universally (or, at least globally) prevalent examples, again, not necessarily due to the violence it's sparked, but because so many of us have hard-wired our brains with it. The violence (et al.) is the reason for the clarification 'malevolent,' not the term 'virus.'

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