Penn Jillette says the world would be a better place if Muslims became Evangelicals

[compromise]

 

[KingNothing]

I'd be interested to hear where he was going with that. In the sense of maximizing freedom and minimizing terrorism, the world would absolutely be a better place if Muslims converted to Christianity AND adopted all the habits and views of modern Christians.

 

[compromise]

Yeah, he should have explained his position more.

 

[Christian Liberty]

If they became actual Evangelicals? I'd be thrilled. I don't want more "Warvangelicals."

 

[AlexAmore]

"Better place" is subjective.

If everyone is the same, then violence probably would go down. So if we're looking at it from a violence standpoint, sure.

 

[Cowlesy]

odd that the clip cuts off there

 

[talkingpointes]

"Better place" is subjective.

If everyone is the same, then violence probably would go down. So if we're looking at it from a violence standpoint, sure.

As much as it pains me to say this - have you ever looked at crime statistics for muslim countries ? It makes the United States look like a war zone.

The closest country to equal the US per capita is Tanzania - which I think is in Africa...
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=a9e_1346726038&comments=1

 

[talkingpointes]

Looking at the comments on the posted page is hilarious. The Muslim countries have low crime because they incorporate CORPORAL punishment. Which is in some ways cruel, but I must admit it seems to work. There extreme harshness on vice is obviously bullshit. Same here though, although it's a more velvet glove type on the face.

 

[James Madison]

As much as it pains me to say this - have you ever looked at crime statistics for muslim countries ? It makes the United States look like a war zone.

The closest country to equal the US per capita is Tanzania - which I think is in Africa...
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=a9e_1346726038&comments=1

So, believe in a literal Hell equates will a lower crime rate. I guess that makes sense.

 

[jclay2]

If they became actual Evangelicals? I'd be thrilled. I don't want more "Warvangelicals."

This.

 

[Ender]

The world would be a better place if everyone would STFU and accept others as they are.

Jillette needs to study St Francis.

 

[fisharmor]

As much as it pains me to say this - have you ever looked at crime statistics for muslim countries ? It makes the United States look like a war zone.

The closest country to equal the US per capita is Tanzania - which I think is in Africa...
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=a9e_1346726038&comments=1

So in the US, it's expected that law enforcement has to fill out some paperwork after they've beaten the shit out of someone who was minding his own business, whereas in Muslim countries, they just beat the shit out of people minding their own business and don't have the paperwork requirement.... and that translates to lower crime?

 

[Cleaner44]

One could easily argue that the world would be a better place if Christians became Muslims. If all people of the world were of one religion it would obviously eliminate conflict between the differing groups. The whole concept is stupid though.

 

[Antischism]

The world would be a better place if everyone were atheist. No religious wars! Atheist peace for all!

See what I did there?


But in the interest of fairness, I would like to see where he was going with that statement (considering he's an atheist, I'm surprised he didn't use my above example which makes me think there's more to it). Obviously, if you strip everyone of their uniqueness/differences, there would be more cooperation and less conflict. However, ridding people of their differences in order to assimilate them into whatever culture you deem to be "better" is absolutely backwards and sounds a lot like America's imperialist history.

 

[talkingpointes]

So in the US, it's expected that law enforcement has to fill out some paperwork after they've beaten the shit out of someone who was minding his own business, whereas in Muslim countries, they just beat the shit out of people minding their own business and don't have the paperwork requirement.... and that translates to lower crime?

Not really, just like here there is rules and expectations. In muslim countries they generally apply the rules across the board. Money doesn't have the wieght in muslim countries like in the west.

 

[talkingpointes]

The world would be a better place if everyone were atheist. No religious wars! Atheist peace for all!

See what I did there?


But in the interest of fairness, I would like to see where he was going with that statement (considering he's an atheist, I'm surprised he didn't use my above example which makes me think there's more to it). Obviously, if you strip everyone of their uniqueness/differences, there would be more cooperation and less conflict. However, ridding people of their differences in order to assimilate them into whatever culture you deem to be "better" is absolutely backwards and sounds a lot like America's imperialist history.

We could deduce he is speaking about culturally homogenous societies. I'm all for multiculturalism, but when it comes to obedience to each other and to state, it helps when ever sees things the same way.

 

[fisharmor]

If all people of the world were of one religion it would obviously eliminate conflict between the differing groups.

Christians have been killing each other for religious reasons since at least 1054, and the material reason for the first major split that happened then is literally that the western half of the one Christian church at that time added the words "and the Son" to the Nicene creed.

Nowadays, the differences between Baptists, Pentacostals, and Roman Catholics are so great that we're really not that far away from the shooting starting back up again. Lest we forget, it wasn't that long ago that Catholics weren't really welcome in lots of this country.

And let's not even bother to cover the rumbles that Shiites and Sunni have gotten into.

Even when they tried to remove religion from the argument altogether, they got Hitler and Stalin duking it out, which was worse.

People will find a way to fight each other. Always.

 

[Karsten]

He didn't answer the question. The question was "Would the world be a better or worse place" and Penn said "yes"
It was not a yes or no question.

 

[jmdrake]

Say if they became Jewish?





1 Samuel 15:3 Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.'"