Not everyone religious is crazy, but it helps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:“SLEEPY EYE, Minn. — Vance Boelter grew up in a sports-loving Lutheran family in a small Minnesota town where nobody locked their doors — a background that gave little hint of the zealotry to come or the deadly violence of which he is now accused.
At 17, he had a religious conversion. As he recalled decades later during a passionate sermon overseas, what happened next shook his life. Waving a Bible and thundering from the podium, he spoke about meeting the holy spirit and running off pamphlets about Jesus to give to everyone he knew….” Washington Post 6-17-25 https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/06/17/vance-boelter-minnesota-shooting-christianity/

A certain kind of religion seems to push some people over the edge.

What do you think?

Religion is the route of all evil truth

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You look around. There are plenty of faithful Christians doing very good things in the world.

and plenty of faithful Christians doing very bad things in the world.

No kidding. Plenty of faithful of all religions. And plenty of atheists.

Wouldn’t you agree?

I would disagree that many atheists are doing bad things "in the name of atheism" but I would say plenty of religious people of many religions are doing bad things in the name of their religion.

So many holy wars. So many people using the bible to subjugate certain people.

But no one said “in the name of” anything. This was simply about doing good/bad things in the world. Atheists do bad things. And good things. Same for religious people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“SLEEPY EYE, Minn. — Vance Boelter grew up in a sports-loving Lutheran family in a small Minnesota town where nobody locked their doors — a background that gave little hint of the zealotry to come or the deadly violence of which he is now accused.
At 17, he had a religious conversion. As he recalled decades later during a passionate sermon overseas, what happened next shook his life. Waving a Bible and thundering from the podium, he spoke about meeting the holy spirit and running off pamphlets about Jesus to give to everyone he knew….” Washington Post 6-17-25 https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/06/17/vance-boelter-minnesota-shooting-christianity/

A certain kind of religion seems to push some people over the edge.

What do you think?

Religion is the route of all evil truth

Lack of religion is no protection. See the Cultural Revolution.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“SLEEPY EYE, Minn. — Vance Boelter grew up in a sports-loving Lutheran family in a small Minnesota town where nobody locked their doors — a background that gave little hint of the zealotry to come or the deadly violence of which he is now accused.
At 17, he had a religious conversion. As he recalled decades later during a passionate sermon overseas, what happened next shook his life. Waving a Bible and thundering from the podium, he spoke about meeting the holy spirit and running off pamphlets about Jesus to give to everyone he knew….” Washington Post 6-17-25 https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/06/17/vance-boelter-minnesota-shooting-christianity/

A certain kind of religion seems to push some people over the edge.

What do you think?

Religion is the route of all evil truth

Lack of religion is no protection. See the Cultural Revolution.

People can do very bad things with or without religion. Religion can give people a means of justifying their evil actions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you, as well as many people on this forum, are very quick to make religion the culprit in every bad situation. Obviously, Vance Boelter wasn’t living what his faith taught.

Would that be true of the entire Republican party, then, right now? I mean anyone can interpret what they want out of whatever they want. And, I think that is the problem. Religion is based on a lot of abstract concepts that can't ever be proved, so anyone can make it what they want it to be. Looks like the beginnjngs of Gilead at this time in history.

I think of slavery in this country. That was also based on biblical ideas. I think of the suppression and repression of women- all religion. I think of wars past and present- again.

Yeah - I was shocked to learn that good christians owned slaves and thought the Bible condoned it.

How do you define that as "good"?

I don't. I think it's horrible and is an example of how some people use the Bible to condone their actions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’d dispute your calling them faithful if they are persisting in sinful behavior. However, I suspect that you’ve lumped Christians into one big pile based on the bad actions of a minority and flat out refused to acknowledge any goodness among Christians. You persecute Christians, just call it what it is.

OP here. They may perceive themselves as faithful, but they are really most faithful to their sinful behavior. and No, I have not lumped Christians into one big pile based on the bad actions of a minority and flat out refused to acknowledge any goodness among Christians. Just look at the title of this thread: Not every religious is crazy, but it helps.

I persecute bad people and religion can make people bad, all the while thinking that they are good and doing god's will.

You know it's true.

What is the “certain kind of religion” you speak of?

No-one mentioned a “certain kind of religion” that I can see.

It’s a direct quote from the OP.

OP, what did you mean by that?

Any religion that makes people believe it's OK to hurt others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“SLEEPY EYE, Minn. — Vance Boelter grew up in a sports-loving Lutheran family in a small Minnesota town where nobody locked their doors — a background that gave little hint of the zealotry to come or the deadly violence of which he is now accused.
At 17, he had a religious conversion. As he recalled decades later during a passionate sermon overseas, what happened next shook his life. Waving a Bible and thundering from the podium, he spoke about meeting the holy spirit and running off pamphlets about Jesus to give to everyone he knew….” Washington Post 6-17-25 https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/06/17/vance-boelter-minnesota-shooting-christianity/

A certain kind of religion seems to push some people over the edge.

What do you think?

Religion is the route of all evil truth

Lack of religion is no protection. See the Cultural Revolution.

People can do very bad things with or without religion. Religion can give people a means of justifying their evil actions.

Right -- they can tell themselves that those people deserve it, because they don't believe the same supernatural stuff that we do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“SLEEPY EYE, Minn. — Vance Boelter grew up in a sports-loving Lutheran family in a small Minnesota town where nobody locked their doors — a background that gave little hint of the zealotry to come or the deadly violence of which he is now accused.
At 17, he had a religious conversion. As he recalled decades later during a passionate sermon overseas, what happened next shook his life. Waving a Bible and thundering from the podium, he spoke about meeting the holy spirit and running off pamphlets about Jesus to give to everyone he knew….” Washington Post 6-17-25 https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/06/17/vance-boelter-minnesota-shooting-christianity/

A certain kind of religion seems to push some people over the edge.

What do you think?

Religion is the route of all evil truth

Lack of religion is no protection. See the Cultural Revolution.

People can do very bad things with or without religion. Religion can give people a means of justifying their evil actions.

Right -- they can tell themselves that those people deserve it, because they don't believe the same supernatural stuff that we do.

And atheists can tell themselves religious people deserve because they are “crazy.” Right, OP?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’d dispute your calling them faithful if they are persisting in sinful behavior. However, I suspect that you’ve lumped Christians into one big pile based on the bad actions of a minority and flat out refused to acknowledge any goodness among Christians. You persecute Christians, just call it what it is.

OP here. They may perceive themselves as faithful, but they are really most faithful to their sinful behavior. and No, I have not lumped Christians into one big pile based on the bad actions of a minority and flat out refused to acknowledge any goodness among Christians. Just look at the title of this thread: Not every religious is crazy, but it helps.

I persecute bad people and religion can make people bad, all the while thinking that they are good and doing god's will.

You know it's true.

What is the “certain kind of religion” you speak of?

No-one mentioned a “certain kind of religion” that I can see.

It’s a direct quote from the OP.

OP, what did you mean by that?

Any religion that makes people believe it's OK to hurt others.

Which ones?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You look around. There are plenty of faithful Christians doing very good things in the world.

and plenty of faithful Christians doing very bad things in the world.

No kidding. Plenty of faithful of all religions. And plenty of atheists.

Wouldn’t you agree?

I would disagree that many atheists are doing bad things "in the name of atheism" but I would say plenty of religious people of many religions are doing bad things in the name of their religion.

So many holy wars. So many people using the bible to subjugate certain people.

The 20th century saw the most war deaths ever, many by atheists such as Stalin and Lenin.

Actually that is true some treat atheism as a religion.

That’s not atheism. It anti-theism and/or secularism.

Neither anti-theism nor secularism are religions.

and through the ages, most war deaths were of religious people, on both sides. Europe now is very secular. Don't know, but maybe it was the effect of 2 world wars fought on it's soil

I agree but atheism is not a holy war starter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“SLEEPY EYE, Minn. — Vance Boelter grew up in a sports-loving Lutheran family in a small Minnesota town where nobody locked their doors — a background that gave little hint of the zealotry to come or the deadly violence of which he is now accused.
At 17, he had a religious conversion. As he recalled decades later during a passionate sermon overseas, what happened next shook his life. Waving a Bible and thundering from the podium, he spoke about meeting the holy spirit and running off pamphlets about Jesus to give to everyone he knew….” Washington Post 6-17-25 https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/06/17/vance-boelter-minnesota-shooting-christianity/

A certain kind of religion seems to push some people over the edge.

What do you think?

Religion is the route of all evil truth

Lack of religion is no protection. See the Cultural Revolution.

People can do very bad things with or without religion. Religion can give people a means of justifying their evil actions.

Right -- they can tell themselves that those people deserve it, because they don't believe the same supernatural stuff that we do.

And atheists can tell themselves religious people deserve because they are “crazy.” Right, OP?

Nobody believed people deserved to “drink the kool aid”. There is empathy when people are victimized by religion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“SLEEPY EYE, Minn. — Vance Boelter grew up in a sports-loving Lutheran family in a small Minnesota town where nobody locked their doors — a background that gave little hint of the zealotry to come or the deadly violence of which he is now accused.
At 17, he had a religious conversion. As he recalled decades later during a passionate sermon overseas, what happened next shook his life. Waving a Bible and thundering from the podium, he spoke about meeting the holy spirit and running off pamphlets about Jesus to give to everyone he knew….” Washington Post 6-17-25 https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/06/17/vance-boelter-minnesota-shooting-christianity/

A certain kind of religion seems to push some people over the edge.

What do you think?

Religion is the route of all evil truth

Lack of religion is no protection. See the Cultural Revolution.

People can do very bad things with or without religion. Religion can give people a means of justifying their evil actions.

Right -- they can tell themselves that those people deserve it, because they don't believe the same supernatural stuff that we do.

And atheists can tell themselves religious people deserve because they are “crazy.” Right, OP?

Nobody believed people deserved to “drink the kool aid”. There is empathy when people are victimized by religion.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“SLEEPY EYE, Minn. — Vance Boelter grew up in a sports-loving Lutheran family in a small Minnesota town where nobody locked their doors — a background that gave little hint of the zealotry to come or the deadly violence of which he is now accused.
At 17, he had a religious conversion. As he recalled decades later during a passionate sermon overseas, what happened next shook his life. Waving a Bible and thundering from the podium, he spoke about meeting the holy spirit and running off pamphlets about Jesus to give to everyone he knew….” Washington Post 6-17-25 https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/06/17/vance-boelter-minnesota-shooting-christianity/

A certain kind of religion seems to push some people over the edge.

What do you think?

Religion is the route of all evil truth

Lack of religion is no protection. See the Cultural Revolution.

People can do very bad things with or without religion. Religion can give people a means of justifying their evil actions.

Right -- they can tell themselves that those people deserve it, because they don't believe the same supernatural stuff that we do.

And atheists can tell themselves religious people deserve because they are “crazy.” Right, OP?

Nobody believed people deserved to “drink the kool aid”. There is empathy when people are victimized by religion.

The truth is that we don't know, really. Certainly most people show empathy when people are victimized by anything, including religion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You look around. There are plenty of faithful Christians doing very good things in the world.

and plenty of faithful Christians doing very bad things in the world.

No kidding. Plenty of faithful of all religions. And plenty of atheists.

Wouldn’t you agree?

I would disagree that many atheists are doing bad things "in the name of atheism" but I would say plenty of religious people of many religions are doing bad things in the name of their religion.

So many holy wars. So many people using the bible to subjugate certain people.

The 20th century saw the most war deaths ever, many by atheists such as Stalin and Lenin.

Actually that is true some treat atheism as a religion.

That’s not atheism. It anti-theism and/or secularism.

Atheists in countries that feature state mandated atheism are responsible for hundreds of millions of deaths of their own people.

How can either religious people or atheist people be blamed for the actions of others?

Currently, the countries with state-mandated atheism are China, North Korea, and Vietnam. While Cuba was previously an atheist state, it officially declared itself a secular state in 2019.

The Soviet Union had a policy of state atheism, meaning the government actively sought to eliminate religion and promote irreligion or atheism as the official state ideology.

Lenin was an atheist who strongly believed in the necessity of combating religion and was critical of those who sought to integrate religious ideas with communism.

Lenin's policies and decrees laid the groundwork for the more extensive anti-religious campaigns under Stalin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You look around. There are plenty of faithful Christians doing very good things in the world.

and plenty of faithful Christians doing very bad things in the world.

No kidding. Plenty of faithful of all religions. And plenty of atheists.

Wouldn’t you agree?

I would disagree that many atheists are doing bad things "in the name of atheism" but I would say plenty of religious people of many religions are doing bad things in the name of their religion.

So many holy wars. So many people using the bible to subjugate certain people.

The 20th century saw the most war deaths ever, many by atheists such as Stalin and Lenin.

Actually that is true some treat atheism as a religion.

That’s not atheism. It anti-theism and/or secularism.

Atheists in countries that feature state mandated atheism are responsible for hundreds of millions of deaths of their own people.

How can either religious people or atheist people be blamed for the actions of others?

Currently, the countries with state-mandated atheism are China, North Korea, and Vietnam. While Cuba was previously an atheist state, it officially declared itself a secular state in 2019.

The Soviet Union had a policy of state atheism, meaning the government actively sought to eliminate religion and promote irreligion or atheism as the official state ideology.

Lenin was an atheist who strongly believed in the necessity of combating religion and was critical of those who sought to integrate religious ideas with communism.

Lenin's policies and decrees laid the groundwork for the more extensive anti-religious campaigns under Stalin.

Still that is not atheism it’s anti-theism and/or secularism.