Why is religion...

[Dill]

(07-10-2017, 05:08 PM)Matt_Crimson Wrote: I read an article one time that was talking about the topic of this thread and the author said something at one point that caught my attention. I don't remember it word for word but he basically said that those who criticize religion have the advantage of being able to say who has killed in God's name because no one can really say how many people decided not to do bad things because they believe in God. 

He was essentially begging the question of how do you count the amount of bad things that didn't happen because of a belief in God vs the amount of bad things that did happen because of a belief in God? And really you can't. It's a variable that is impossible to account for.

This reminds me of two stories I sometimes tell folks.

1. About 10 years ago, I dined with friends at harbor restaurant in Doha, Qatar. Our waiter was Bedouin, a poor desert Arab come to the city where he landed a great job.  Later that evening, when we arrived home, I realized my wallet was missing. I presumed I left it at the restaurant, perhaps at our table. When I told my friends I would go back tomorrow to check with the waiter, they laughed and told me I was crazy If I had left it there it was gone for good. I told them the waiter was Bedoo so I was pretty certain he wouldn't steal it, at which they laughed even harder.  This was not an Islamophobic thing either, as all three of my friends were "secular" Muslims from Albania.

Next day I went to the restaurant. Not only did the waiter have my wallet, but he would not accept a finders tip. What he had done was "good in the sight of Allah" and not to be tainted by profit.

2. Several years later I was at the Dead Sea with my family, at a day resort on the Jordanian side.  My son came to me in the evening distraught--he had lost his wallet, left it on a table. There were a number of young serving boys working at this resort. He assumed one had snatched it, and our table was rather isolated from traffic. I told him the boys were Bedoo, very unlikely any would steal it. Rather, more likely they would turn it in to the management. Like my friends previously he was skeptical. Also the resort was closed, since it was late evening. Who to ask?  I went to the back door and knocked. The  door opened to a dressing room for male workers. I asked if anyone had found a wallet and immediately a kid of about 13 ran to a drawer, pulled out my son's wallet, and returned it to him. Again, no tip.

I could multiply stories here--both of Muslims and Christians who have helped out a poor atheist in need when his car broke down or some other misfortune struck.  Beaker is right to point out there are non religious people who do good works too. I just want to mention that, in the total scheme of things, religions have also enabled people to interact ethically with strangers, sometimes on a vast scale. Not defending religion here so much as just stumping for descriptive accuracy.