Let's Become Terrorists for Jeebus!

As Jim Morrison once said, I'm gonna get my kicks before the whole shithouse goes up in flames. It is utterly depressing that such willful ignorance exists in the 21st century.

Jebus Cripes!

I can picture these kids in the future outfitted with suicide vests walking into secular humanist targets -- like meetings of the city council. This is how terrorists operate.

The islamic terrorists hate us for our meddling in their affairs. The christic terrorists hate us for our freedoms, which they want to take away.

So, what's the smart move here? Preemptive strikes? I suppose the most cost-effective would be artillery ....

Martyrdom has always been part of Judeo-Christian-Islamic religion.

Most people can't seem to survive without the psychic security blanket religion provides.

I think it's our greatest genetic weakness.

Very reminiscent of KKK and white militia rallies. It's the power of creating a group identity by defining an external threat.

I caught this at a film-festival here at Virginia last year. It's really a great movie. The tactics are terrifying.

Fortunately, based on criticism from the movie, the woman depicted actually closed down the Jesus Camp.

This is simply outrageous, not only because of the blatant brainwashing, but also because it is just what muslim extremists are doing with their kids.

<nitpick> The case of muslim extremists can be instructive about the dangers of this sort of indoctrination, but the mere fact that muslim extremists do something does not in inself make that something wrong.

Rob -- you are right, to a certain degree. however, studies have shown that people can overcome their emotionalism when they are specifically told to behave in a rational manner. the fact is that society does not demand rational behavior, so most people do not behave rationally.

Andrew -- i am confused as to what you mean. basically, i am railing against extremism in any form, regardless of who is doing it. but for christians to rely on brainwashing their own kids while they denegrade extremist muslims for doing the same thing is just plain wrong.

I was arguing against reflexively opposing anything "muslim extremists" do. Much of what they do can, of course, be opposed for entirely good reasons, but not necessarily everything. I may have misunderstood what you were saying.

Hypocrisy and blatant contradictions among fundamentalists no longer suprise me; they don't have the intellectual habits to recognize them. I suspect Muslim fundamentalists think in very similar ways, despite the nominally different religion, and it would not suprise me if the same were true of other authoritarian followers, such as those of Mao.

A classic bumper sticker: "When Religion Ruled the World / They called it The Dark Ages". Purchased at EvolveFISH (same outfit that makes the stick-on Darwin fish, not sure if they still sell this one).

Good grief, these people are frightening.

"reflexively opposing anything 'muslim extremists' do"

Do they drink tea? Cos I'm doing that right now.

"Hypocrisy and blatant contradictions among fundamentalists"

Heh - there's a page on the Chick Track (or whatever it's called) site that says that Islam must be false because they can identify a single part of the Qur'an that contradicts science. X-D

this movie is SO disturbing, i highly recommend you netflix it or go to your local video store and watch what the rest of us are up against. this movie shocked me so much, as a non-religious person, i was completely stunned to see so many people brainwashed. this is what happens when people stop asking questions or thinking for themselves. it's completely insane!! watch this movie and send it to all your friends. i fear when this generation reaches voting age. we're all effing doomed.

Religion is a major cause of the world's problems, I agree. I think a larger one is patriotism and nationalism though. And it's not talked about at all. Children are indoctrinated with it from the time they are born until the time they die and rarely if ever critically evaluate it. I think it works on a similar level to religion, psychologically. Group mentality. Us and Them. An evolutionary crutch we no longer need in my opinion. Religion isn't a problem in and of itself. It's this 'us and them' mentality that is the problem, and it exists in any number of ways. Everything from race, religion and nationality to your favourite soccer team. It's a constant need to define your place in the universe relatively, with reference to what you are not, thereby defining an 'enemy' - or what can easily become an enemy. If we can teach children to identify and critically view this process (I don't think doing away with it will ever be possible), then behavior relating to the process will be more inclusive and less aggressive.