Indoctrinating the military to commit genocide.

Daryl wrote:Hopefully an isolated incident, although indoctrinating soldiers to regard various cultures as being sub human or inferior has always been a tactic. I personally have difficulty relating to any strongly religious groups of people of any faith, but agree that they should not be targeted unless they have proved to be damaging to the state. In other media I and others here actively try to obstruct such groups from influencing national policy in our secular country, but would never countenance encouraging discrimination in the military.

The second example given of possibly targeting military leaders who have expressed strong views publically is a bit more complex. While in a position of authority I would never have engaged in forums like this one or spoken publically about any politically sensitive topic. We were left in no doubt that such actions would be viewed negatively, and would be negative for our careers. Our current PM was once in a Catholic seminary and every action of his is publically analysed to see if he is trying to impose his religious prejudices on the rest of us.
I don't think I'm exaggerating to say that, if you spoke to a diverse group of well educated and informed people from other developed countries, you would find that they would lump US evangelical Christianity in with fundamentalist Islam, dictatorship cults (eg: North Korea), and similar such movements as all being contributors to world instability.

PeterZ wrote:You are absolutely right. Atheists must be treated just like any other human being and they should have their influence on public policy severely curtailed.

Daryl wrote:Hopefully an isolated incident, although indoctrinating soldiers to regard various cultures as being sub human or inferior has always been a tactic. I personally have difficulty relating to any strongly religious groups of people of any faith, but agree that they should not be targeted unless they have proved to be damaging to the state. In other media I and others here actively try to obstruct such groups from influencing national policy in our secular country, but would never countenance encouraging discrimination in the military.

UM out of curiosity why exactly should atheist be curtailed from anything since no other group should be curtailed? I personally see no reason any one group should have their capabilities curtailed unless it is proven beyond a doubt (through actions and hard evidence) that the group in question is a threat. Mind you i am saying this as a atheist and many of the people i am with feel much the same way.

The second example given of possibly targeting military leaders who have expressed strong views publically is a bit more complex. While in a position of authority I would never have engaged in forums like this one or spoken publically about any politically sensitive topic. We were left in no doubt that such actions would be viewed negatively, and would be negative for our careers. Our current PM was once in a Catholic seminary and every action of his is publically analysed to see if he is trying to impose his religious prejudices on the rest of us.
I don't think I'm exaggerating to say that, if you spoke to a diverse group of well educated and informed people from other developed countries, you would find that they would lump US evangelical Christianity in with fundamentalist Islam, dictatorship cults (eg: North Korea), and similar such movements as all being contributors to world instability.

Daryl wrote:PeterZ are you implying that I am an atheist?
Not actually stating what I am, or likely to, although obviously I'm not aligned with evangelical Christianity or fundamentalist Islam.
My point in that part was that those who make the rules should not let their own beliefs or lack of them influence their decisions in a way that is detrimental to others. I loathe the zealots trying to impose their version of morality on me, but also loathe those who would try and prevent others from having their own private beliefs.

Daryl wrote:Sex, religion, and politics. We are all told to not discuss these publically unless we want to start a fight.
Simplistic examples I could supply to illustrate my point would include. I don't want an Inman invoking sharia law to make my female relatives and friends wear anything but what they want to, however I also don't want a preacher dictating to them who they should have sex with. Another is that Christian lobbies here are still urging discrimination against gay marriage, even though it's none of their business (unless made compulsory). I'm sure if we had a significant Hindu presence we would have problems with them as well.