#25 Mary Madigan – It is easy to say whose religion is better. Better religions produce better societies. Islamic countries, for example, always live in brutal conditions eventually. It leads to wealthy elites and massive numbers of poor, as do all tyrranies. Compare that to the openness and wealth of Judeo-Christian countries. As it fades in a country, tyrrany and poverty rises. Too, human/animal sacrifice was common in ancient religions until ended by the dominance of Christianity. Sorry, but I happily and easily claim the superiority of the Judeo-Christian belief system.
You also make a great assumption that most societies reject a number of repulsive behaviors. That is simply not true. Without the civlizing influence of religions to impose moral restrictions from within, immoral behavior grows rampant, and people do not reject these repulsive behaviors.
Take a long look at the world. Do we naturally reject genocide? Not at all. It is commonplace. How about slavery? Um, no. The sex-slave trade, for example, is thriving. The Qu’ran states twice that slavery is okey-dokey. Incest? Not necessarily. Without tight societal condemnation, it, too, thrives. In some societies, it is institutionalized. Cold callous murder? One must fight hard to keep it at bay. When society breaks down, people will rapidly gravitate to such methods. Many will kill just for something to do. Bloodsport is also a common decadence.
Men are not rational animals. They are rationalizing animals. They find a way to give into their baser urges, even when there are controls. Without these controls, no thought whatsoever is given to the wrongness of a deed. The idea that we are naturally good is just laughable. The history of the world proves otherwise. You are just too sheltered by our good society to appreciate the moral bankruptcy of the majority of Mankind.
