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Article 5658 of comp.ai.philosophy:
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Newsgroups: comp.ai.philosophy
Subject: Re: NI failure
Message-ID: <1992May14.153148.4265@spss.com>
>From: markrose@spss.com (Mark Rosenfelder)
Date: Thu, 14 May 1992 15:31:48 GMT
References: <1992May12.170823.23059@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca> <77807@netnews.upenn.edu> <1992May14.000639.17503@news.media.mit.edu>
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In article <1992May14.000639.17503@news.media.mit.edu> minsky@media.mit.edu 
(Marvin Minsky) writes:
>In article <77807@netnews.upenn.edu> weemba@sagi.wistar.upenn.edu (Matthew P Wiener) writes:
>>In article <1992May12.170823.23059@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca>, pindor@gpu (Andrzej Pindor) writes:
>>>>Most religions think there is value in (human) life. Whether it can be
>>
>>>For most religions this only applies to the life of the faithfull, the ones
>>>which are really God-fearing.
>>
>>Most religions?  I'm really not sure what metric you are using here, but
>>in the one I consider standard English (discrete), I'd say your evaluation
>>is utter rubbish.
>>-- 
>>-Matthew P Wiener (weemba@sagi.wistar.upenn.edu)
>
>Hmm.  Let's vote.  I think the Rushdie matter takes care of one big
>one.  (Yes, that's from the "radical" wing, but I don't see the others
>coming to his defense -- which, according to some moral beliefs (that
>is, mine) is worse, worse, worse.) 

1. Many Muslims did in fact condemn this bit of theocratic fascism.
   I remember some Egyptian clerics repudiating it.  But death threats
   get more press.
2. The Rushdie affair has nothing to do with Islam's attitude toward 
   non-believers: the sentence was for apostasy by a Muslim.

I think it should also be noted that irreligion (e.g. Soviet communism)
has been just as cheerfully willing to kill its opponents.


