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Which Canadian riots would you be talking about? And when did the Canadian please lay down their tools?
There was a police strike in Montreal in 1969 and the result was something that was later given the name "The night of Terror". Clearly religion had little impact on the behaviors of people on this night. Unless someone wants to pretend that they were all the atheists, and the theists were at home being nice to everyone.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Nozzferrahhtoo
There was a police strike in Montreal in 1969 and the result was something that was later given the name "The night of Terror". Clearly religion had little impact on the behaviors of people on this night. Unless someone wants to pretend that they were all the atheists, and the theists were at home being nice to everyone.
That was..... almost 50 years ago!!!!
Besides, it was Quebec. Anyone from Canada would understand what I mean by that.
At least arithmetic has not yet failed you The age of the example doesn't take from it really, it was just the first one that popped into my head.
But the point stands apart from the single example, that religion does not appear to have any beneficial effect with regards morality. It does not stay the hands of people who have the authority of society removed. And the per capita % of prison populations in more religious places like the US appears to be higher than secular and less religious countries. And there are some useful memetic images going around social media that correlate graphically religiosity in the US and things like crime or poor education standards and the like.
Yea I had a short thing with a girl from Quebec in my younger years. She told me most of the jokes and references the rest of Canada directs their way.
The message in the OP reminds me of one of my very first objections to Christian doctrine when I was attending Catholic schools as a child. Specifically it was the parable of the Prodigal Son which got me questioning the package being presented to me.
It is the story of two brothers, one of whom demands an early pay out of his inheritance which he uses to leave the family farm, go to the big city and squander it all in debauchery. The other brother stays home and continues to work the farm.
When he reaches a state of desperation after exhausting his money, the debauchery son decides to go home and ask forgiveness. His father not only forgives him, but orders a feast to be staged in honor of his son's return. Naturally the other brother, the one who stayed and worked, objects. He points out that for all his hard work and loyalty, the father never staged a feast for him. The father replies that there is more joy in losing someone and finding him again than in never having lost that person in the first place.
Now, if I had been the hard working brother and my father had said something like that to me under those circumstances, I would have instantly demanded my share of the inheritance and taken off to find my fortune elsewhere. The message coming across to me wasn't one of forgiveness or joy at the return of the lost lamb, it was...."Work hard and be loyal and you'll get treated like a sucker while the screwups get the rewards."
It wasn't long before I developed the view that far from being a strength of Christianity, the serial forgiveness doctrine is at bottom permission to behave as poorly as you like, knowing that you can always get forgiven.
In Protestant Christianity, it's not people who ask for forgiveness who go to heaven, it's people who truly regret their behavior.
If a person knows that stealing is wrong and does it anyways, just so that he could ask forgiveness later, he is not truly regretting his behavior and therefore receives no forgiveness.
Catholic Christianity is not the same and the picture does apply (or so it seems). Unless I don't know Catholic Christianity that well. (I am more familiar with Protestant one)
The message in the OP reminds me of one of my very first objections to Christian doctrine when I was attending Catholic schools as a child. Specifically it was the parable of the Prodigal Son which got me questioning the package being presented to me.
It is the story of two brothers, one of whom demands an early pay out of his inheritance which he uses to leave the family farm, go to the big city and squander it all in debauchery. The other brother stays home and continues to work the farm.
When he reaches a state of desperation after exhausting his money, the debauchery son decides to go home and ask forgiveness. His father not only forgives him, but orders a feast to be staged in honor of his son's return. Naturally the other brother, the one who stayed and worked, objects. He points out that for all his hard work and loyalty, the father never staged a feast for him. The father replies that there is more joy in losing someone and finding him again than in never having lost that person in the first place.
Now, if I had been the hard working brother and my father had said something like that to me under those circumstances, I would have instantly demanded my share of the inheritance and taken off to find my fortune elsewhere. The message coming across to me wasn't one of forgiveness or joy at the return of the lost lamb, it was...."Work hard and be loyal and you'll get treated like a sucker while the screwups get the rewards."
It wasn't long before I developed the view that far from being a strength of Christianity, the serial forgiveness doctrine is at bottom permission to behave as poorly as you like, knowing that you can always get forgiven.
Just my two cents: the point of the story was about getting a second chance. We all sometimes screw up because we don't know any better and it's nice to have a clean slate and start over.
And about the older son, I don't remember, but didn't the father said that all I have is yours or something like that? If that's the case, then the mistake of the older son was in never asking, never hoping and just assuming the wrong thing.
Just my two cents: the point of the story was about getting a second chance. We all sometimes screw up because we don't know any better and it's nice to have a clean slate and start over.
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I understand the point of the story. My point was that the story has a bad point. Treating the foul-up son better than the loyal hard working one is unacceptable in my view, and the desire to provide second chances fails to mitigate that unfairness.
Place yourself in the position of the son who remained home, how would you feel about seeing your brother's irresponsibility rewarded? Remember, the runaway son blew all of his inheritance on debauchery. How is he going to be supported now? Obviously it will require some of the money which would otherwise be part of the loyal son's inheritance.
There is nothing in the story which suggests that there was any sort of compensating consideration given to the loyal son. His specific complaint from Luke 15:29-30:
Quote:
But he answered his father, "Behold, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed a commandment of yours, but you never gave me a goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this, your son, came, who has devoured your living with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him."
The moral of the story....better to be the foul-up than virtuous. The foul-up not only got to blow his inheritance on debauchery, he then gets a party better than anything the loyal son ever received. Forgiveness is a good thing, but not when it requires an injustice being done to someone who has not done anything which mandates forgiveness.
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The age of the example doesn't take from it really, it was just the first one that popped into my head. 
