When I think religion becomes the most dangerous is when the ends justify the means. This is when planes can fly into skyscrapers in the name of God.

I call 1 Nephi 4 the ends justify the means scripture. Stealing and murdering are fine if you think God commands it. He delivered Labon...right? Is it funny that God delivered him to be murdered but could not deliver him already dead???

It is not just a Mormon thing.

An evangelical pastor Greg Locke explained why their support for Trump. “I think with a lot of evangelicals it is not just blind followship it is the ends justify the Means.” He said this as if this is a good justification.

Should I be afraid to drink his and theirs Kool-Aid?

explain "the left".

I think you may have the “two wrongs make a right” argument mixed up with “the ends justify the means.”

It does not matter your political or religious affiliation. If you are compromising the basic values of what you teach or espouse just for the ends it affects your credibility and basically it can make you a hypocrite.

Seriously compromising these values can be very dangerous.

In our state we have a Congressional Representative who is virulently anti-choice. He was caught on tape about 3 election cycles ago yelling at his mistress because she hadn't "taken care of it" yet, i.e., had the abortion he'd given her money for. Does it get anymore hypocritical than that?

But for his district, the ends justify the means. He gets re-elected because he votes strongly anti-choice, anti-abortion. So he's a hypocrite, big deal. He's a good Christian. He's saved. Can't judge him. Poor guy, his wife left him and he got his punishment by being exposed.

The word heretic was invented just for this very reason. Labeling someone a heretic or blasphemer just because they see things differently or "have the goods on you" is a a way to claim righteous power and have an ugly end justify a means as you make toast of them.

So, if you are going to kill everybody's first-borns or annihilate an entire population by drowning or plague, it is proper protocol to first label them as wicked for not doing exactly as you say. Helps to label someone a liar before you fire them even if you don't have proof of that.

If you want your government to reflect your personal religious agenda, then you follow the one who you think will get the job done no matter what the means because, well, God wants it that way. Like for sure. Guns for hire. It's really that simple.

Joseph really needed a few more plot twists like the Laban Slaughter in later chapters of his novel though. A chapter called the "The Real Housewives of Zarahemela" could have given a break to the tedium perhaps?

Mormon fundamentalist/polygamist groups have certainly used that scripture to kill dissenters and rivals.

Valued Wrote:
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> When I think religion becomes the most dangerous
> is when the ends justify the means.

I think "end of times" religions justify a lot of unchristian means. It is build into the world view.

The world needs saving and whatever means can accomplish this before the world ends is righteous.

I think it's troubling on many levels that four chapters into their sacred book, they have the "good" guy murdering someone in cold blood, because voices in his head told him it was necessary in order to get some genealogy records. There's almost a feeling justice, because Laban was drunk. It's a horrible story.

Doesn't it make sense to believe that the character of the book's authors has to be called into question!

Either it really, really happened (it didn't!) or the people who made it up revealed themselves in the creation of the fable.