Alvida wrote:
That's what they tell themselves, either it's a subconscious lie or they plainly know it to be bs.
It is the truth in their own perspective.

Religion provides a powerful language through which just about anything can be justified, and no other type of language can be utilized so effectively to demonize others.

Religion has been at the source of many conflicts and wars, and beyond this, religious language has been used time and time again to justify conflict, fear, and hatred. During the ''cold war,'' what was said to generate fear and resentment towards the Soviets? That they were Godless Communists, or evil atheists, more or less.

I know you disagree with this, and of course there are often (though not always) other, and at times, greater motives than religion for warfare, but religion itself, this cannot be denied, has been not only a source of conflict in the world, but it has also been at the very source of a great number of wars.

Religions, and especially western religions, are warlike, imperialistic, and obviously theocratic philosophies. I think it would be quite interesting to see how anyone would define the Islam as anything other than a warrior mentality on many levels, and it's common for people to (somewhat rightfully) have that perception, but in that department, the Islam is well matched by Christianity, especially the Roman Catholic Church which is essentially a military and corporate structure.

Where liberalness can be blind to my mind is when the ousting of a dictator is supported by liberals in the west
''Conservatives'' are usually far more favorable to such 'solutions' than ''Liberals'' are, actually (to use the usual terminology). Paradoxally enough, it is those same ''conservatives'' that show the most inclined and willing to accommodate the dictators that they ''like'' and to support military action to remove those that they don't. I actually thought of starting the ''Dictators page'' on Facebook with mini-profiles for each dictator on the face of the earth and inviting conservatives to vote 'like' or 'dislike' for each one of them - That way, we could guess where the next 'pre-emptive strike' will happen as people can democratically voice their preference to that effect - Fun for the whole family!

I wonder if civil war, widespread death and mass homelessness is actually a price worth paying for democracy.

Define ''Democracy.''

Sometimes, standing for what you believe means standing alone