Faithful Americans wish to believe organized religion is not responsible for horrific violence in the Middle East. Though they'd never dare admit it, they think a primitive culture is to blame, or that brains of certain foreigners resemble those contained in the skulls of cavemen.
But people born in Afghanistan are the same as those born in Ardmore, Oklahoma.
The truth is that religious folks in America commit many abhorrent acts because their church elders tell them it's okay, or worse, encourage them to, "Just Do It." We all know the Westboro Baptist Church has a bad habit of protesting military funerals because they're angry Nathan Lane isn't rotting in jail for a specific reason unrelated to his role in Joe Versus the Volcano.
As noted in a recent 20/20 episode, several Independent Fundamental Baptist churches have seen their members arrested then convicted of abusing children. Of course no organization can prevent every single member from committing crimes, but most don't go to great lengths covering up abuse and/or blaming the victim. IFB preachers often encourage the beating of children. The aforementioned 20/20 episode aired footage of a preacher angrily telling his flock, "If you're not bruising the child, you're not spanking the child enough."
It's not the region; it's religion.
We have our Founding Fathers to thank for making sure acts of abuse against children are indeed illegal and therefore require hiding, or else we'd witness young girls routinely standing in the public square apologizing for their sin of being abused by an adult. Since I don't know the location of any public squares, maybe they'd beg forgiveness while standing in line waiting to purchase their back-to-school Trapper Keepers, you know, a couple days before abuse at the hands of a family elder gives way to abuse at the hands of a school official.
America is great place in which to live because our Founding Fathers understood this country would remain in the stone ages were religion holding it back. These visionaries realized that, while people might continue clinging to their faith, they would reject past norms to achieve greatness, and shun cruelty, if overtly religious laws and peer pressure were non-factors.
Let's talk about slavery...
Slavery was prominent in the south, so an end to the practice wasn't brought about by multiple Bible readings; it was brought about by people who became inherently sick to their stomach at the site of abuse, not sick to their stomach after reading the Bible then witnessing unimaginable cruelty. "A black man beaten within an inch of his life used to not bother me, but after reading the Bible I have a burning desire to hurl my body in front of his master's whip!"
Christian abolitionists succeeded because they lived in a country where a supreme leader wasn't allowed to send out goons to exterminate them as the extreme Hutus slaughtered their moderate brethren.
It doesn't give modern religious people pause that the primary reason widespread cruelty no longer occurs in America is because joining a church is voluntary!?
Everything America has achieved was made possible because religion does not hold back progress as small puddles of mud held back the Yugo Cabrio.
I'm glad our Founding Fathers gave religious people a way to keep the faith yet not feel it's their duty to hurl rocks at my head when I promote atheism, but no one should forget that organized religion remains responsible for much cruelty around the globe.
I know the typical Christian will respond, "You can't compare us to psychopathic American churches that claim the Bible is their inspiration and you certainly can't compare us to radical Islam..."
Due to your penchant for baseless discrimination, I certainly can't equate you with people who do the right thing.
After all, the right thing is what atheists do.
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