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Comment by rhizome | Hacker News Reader

>highly contradictory

Not true. If the internal logic of a religious text can be used to justify violence, it's not contradictory. Violence may contradict the popular conception of a religious text, but if a book can be used as a tool for a particular use, eventually it will be. Religious texts don't get patches.

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None of the religious texts of the popular religions where a particular text is central have a strong, well-defined “internal logic”, just a variety of different interpretations of varying popularity.

(Also, the idea that a religion is inherently defined by a text, implicit in the upthread comment, is a false generalization.)

None of the religious texts of the popular religions where a particular text is central have a strong, well-defined “internal logic”

Let me clarify: if a logic can be found in a religious text, it will be used. Logic of violence, logic of profit, logic of slavery...all of these are illustrated by history.

Someone hasn't read the Old Testament. God mellowed out when he had a kid, but before that he smote entire cities. Sometimes God did it himself. Sometimes God ordered Israelites to commit genocide.

You're saying that Old Testament has "a strong, well-defined internal logic"? If so maybe you could do some more reading. I don't think e.g. Genesis and Job fit together at all... how about Deuteronomy and Ecclesiastes?

You've been here for ages; you know where threads like this go. Please don't pick religious flamewars here!

Fair.

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