How would the World be without Religion?

[Leo Volont]

Okay, I have a story of what happens without Religion.

In America, near the zone of the Apalatian Mountains, where settlers centuries ago had long since been swallowed up by ignorance and have forgotten every civilizing influence, including Religion, there, every once in awhile some of these 'Hill Billies' get loose.

This mother and two sons stole a car and started down Highway 66. They did not have money at first, and so they stole it. They killed all of their victims. Even after they had money, they would still kill gas station attendents rather than pay for gas.

They were soon apprehended and when asked why they killed so many people, the mother and the two sons were surprised at the questions. They would reply "They weren't even kin".

Without Religion, we have a situation in which there is no other moral thought but "kin or not kin", and where people are not 'kin' it simply seems almost ridiculous not to kill them when there may be some advantage in it.

 

[mustafhakofi]

A Much Much Much Better Place, Enough Said.

 

[Medicine*Woman]

Leo Volont: Okay, I have a story of what happens without Religion.

In America, near the zone of the Apalatian Mountains, where settlers centuries ago had long since been swallowed up by ignorance and have forgotten every civilizing influence, including Religion, there, every once in awhile some of these 'Hill Billies' get loose.
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M*W: Leo, you've pissed me off good now. You don't know the history of Appalachian Mountains. You didn't even spell it right! I am highly offended because my Cherokee heritage comes from deep in the mountains and caves of Appalachia, and I am proud to have been born a Hillbilly. You didn't spell that right either. I pity you, because I am one of those Hillbillies who "got loose."
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Leo: This mother and two sons stole a car and started down Highway 66. They did not have money at first, and so they stole it. They killed all of their victims. Even after they had money, they would still kill gas station attendents rather than pay for gas.

They were soon apprehended and when asked why they killed so many people, the mother and the two sons were surprised at the questions. They would reply "They weren't even kin".
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M*W: Crimes happen everywhere. Singling out Hillbillies shows your ignorance and prejudice toward simple mountain people who have done no harm to you. I have always given credit to my Appalachian heritage for inspiring me to accomplish what I have in this life.
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Leo: Without Religion, we have a situation in which there is no other moral thought but "kin or not kin", and where people are not 'kin' it simply seems almost ridiculous not to kill them when there may be some advantage in it.
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M*W: What makes you think Hillbillies don't have religion? That's pretty stupid, Leo. Those mountain folks are probably the MOST religious people in this whole country! It's true that there's not too many Catholics there, but the influx of Western and Eastern European immigration settled into my homeland to work the mines -- as many ethnic and religious groups as one could imagine. I grew up with the Cherokees, English, Scots, Irish, Magyars, Italians, Spaniards, Syrians, "Portygees," Africans, and Hillybillies of unknown origin, and we all got along just fine. The best part of our melting pot was the food. We had chickens and a cow. We traded butter and cheese for bacon and pork chops. The Italians had the hogs and the great spaghetti sauces. The Magyars introduced us to cabbage rolls.
Sure, I've eaten squirrels, rabbits and bear. They were considered a delicacy back there. And we wasted nothing! Everyone had a garden and grew their own vegetables. Fruit trees were abundant.

My grandmother was the only doctor, pharmacist and mortician in those hills. There was a constant stream of mother's bringing their infants and children up the hill for Granny to cure. She made her own medicines from plants and trees. She prepared bodies of the dead for burial during the Spanish Flu epidemic in 1918 where her own son died. She never went beyond the fifth grade. She was highly religious -- a "hard-shelled Baptist" -- she would proudly admit. My grandfather went a total of one day to Catholic school in England, and the nuns paddled him. He never went back. He had no religion until the Jehovah's Witnesses came up the mountain, and he would buy the Watchtower from them. I was the audience to many religious arguments between my grandparents. They made me who I am today.

So, Leo, you have shown yourself to be bigoted and ignorant about people you don't know. You must have a lot of delusional fears in your mind. You have attacked probably the most highly concentrated group of religious people in this country, whether they be Baptists, Methodists, Holiness, Catholics or Snake Handlers.