Horrible people of faith: Joseph Kony

[Voltaire2]

Born:July 24, 1961.

Leader of the Lords Resistance Army.

While initially purporting to fight against government oppression, the LRA allegedly turned against Kony's own supporters, supposedly to "purify" the Acholi people and turn Uganda into a theocracy.[2] Kony proclaims himself the spokesperson of God and a spirit medium and claims he is visited by a multinational host of 13 spirits, including a Chinese phantom.[2] Ideologically, the group is a syncretic mix of mysticism, Acholi nationalism, and Christian fundamentalism, and claims to be establishing a theocratic state based on the Ten Commandments and local Acholi tradition.[sources 1]

Kony has been accused by government entities of ordering the abduction of children to become child soldiers and sex slaves.[20] 66,000 children became soldiers, and 2 million people were displaced internally from 1986 to 2009.[21] Kony was indicted in 2005 for war crimes and crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, but he has evaded capture.[22] Kony has been subject to an Interpol Red Notice at the request of the ICC since 2006.[4] Since the Juba peace talks in 2006, the LRA no longer operate in Uganda. Sources claim that they are in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Central African Republic (CAR), or South Sudan.[23] In 2013, Kony was reported to be in poor health, and Michel Djotodia, president of the CAR, claimed he was negotiating with Kony to surrender.[24]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Kony

[guillaumeb]

1. I am flattered to be your inspiration.

Very derivative of you.

[MineralMan]

2. You shouldn't be. It's as easy to find horrible people as

wonderful people "of faith." It is not "faith" that makes people good or evil. It is something else within those people. The good ones would still be good, "faith" or not. The bad ones would still be bad.

Your premise is faulty, and you are making a post hoc ergo propter hoc logic error. "Faith" is not causal for good. It is a separate thing.

As many examples as you can offer can be easily countered by other examples. "Faith" can be used for good or evil, and is used by both.

[Voltaire2]

3. Actually I think the "horrible people of faith" bucket is much bigger than the

"progressive people of faith" bucket, but your point is correct.

[MineralMan]

4. I started my own OP on this subject.

Faith is not a predictor of behavior and is not a causal factor in behavior.

One could make lists of good and evil people all day long, but their religious faith is not a causal element.

[guillaumeb]

5. I am flattered to be your inspiration.

And your point is silly, unless you feel that most humans are horrible.

[guillaumeb]

6. The point is to rebut the constant litany

of "religion is bad" posts that are quite abundant here.

Simplistic statements in the model of "religion is responsible for more deaths....etc" need to be exposed as what they are.

[MineralMan]

7. I do not make such posts, Guillaume.

Nor do I make simplistic statements about religion. Please address your complaints elsewhere. Thanks.

[guillaumeb]

8. I never claimed that you do/did.

But anyone who reads here can see what is quite apparent.

[MineralMan]

9. What appears apparent to you may not to others.

For others, different things may be apparent. Look inward, not outward for your answers. That's my suggestion.

If you do not wish to be seen as accusing me of things, it would be better to make your posts directed at those you actually accuse. You did not respond to my post in your reply above. You responded to something else that I did not say, nor imply. Try responding again, but this time to the post I made, instead.

I will point out instances where you appear to accuse me of something when you really meant to accuse someone else. Perhaps not accusing anyone of anything would be a better course.