The hajj, one of the largest annual human gatherings in the world, begins on Wednesday in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Amid rising temperatures and logistical challenges, the pilgrimage has increasingly become a test of endurance both for pilgrims and the Saudi government.

Millions of Muslims from around the world travel to the city to take part; Saudi Arabia said 1,475,230 pilgrims from abroad have arrived since Sunday. Last year, the Saudi government said more than 1,300 pilgrims died, many from Egypt. Most of those who perished had been unregistered, Saudi officials said, meaning they had made the trip without the permits that gave them access to heat protections.

        • BackgrndNoize@lemmy.world
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          5 days ago

          Sure, but atheists don’t organize together to persecute theists for their beliefs, in many theocracies right now being a non believer is punishable by death, not to mention the homophobia, the sexism, the tolerance for child rape, and many other kinds of abused towards vulnerable people, and other dogmatic nonsense. Religion creates in groups and out groups and twists people into being obedient fools who will do anything to stay part of the in group and guarantee their ticket to their so called heaven, I’d rather people learn to think for themselves and have the strength to live on their own, rather than becoming slaves to someone else’s ideology

          • pikl@lemmy.world
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            3 days ago

            Apparently they do it online. Every single time something religious is even hinted at, or somebody does something in line with religious beliefs, or even if somebody posts a picture of someone that moderately resembles a religious figure… Send in the atheists to proclaim their denial en mass. It’s just as pathetic and annoying as the goat herder yelling about his sky god.

          • QuoVadisHomines@sh.itjust.works
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            5 days ago

            You might want to crack open a history book focusing on any of the attempts at socialism or communism in Asia. You will find many atheists persecuting theists.

            There aren’t many theocratic states remaining.

            Everything creates in groups and out groups, nothing does this better than leftism.

            • scarabic@lemmy.world
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              4 days ago

              The church has been a political power throughout history, and has often come into conflict with other political powers, such as totalitarian dictators. It is utterly disingenuous to claim that this has anything to do with atheists. It’s about the state eliminating the church and their message as a competing institution and influence.

              • QuoVadisHomines@sh.itjust.works
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                4 days ago

                You need to crack open a book desperately if that’s your current perspective because Im not talking about churches. You absolutely have bigoted atheists, who murder theists. China loves murdering religious folk.

                There are tons of atheists who are bigots.

                • scarabic@lemmy.world
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                  4 days ago

                  You gonna keep using that “crack a book” line repeatedly without citing any references? It’s getting tired.

            • BackgrndNoize@lemmy.world
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              5 days ago

              Religion is just a means of controlling the idiot masses like yourself, those political parties that clamp down on religion aren’t doing it because they are atheist but because they don’t want any competition when it comes to controlling people, and morons like you who think of the world in binary terms like left and right fall for this stupid shit. As I said before read more than one book in your life and form your own opinions for once, stop assimilating the views of the people around you like a good little sheep, stop worrying so much about being discarded by your flock, this isn’t the dark ages, you won’t die from starvation on your own

              • QuoVadisHomines@sh.itjust.works
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                5 days ago

                Considering that you are two comments in and you have already made a series of factual errors AND I have said Im an atheist I don’t think you are qualified to determine who is less intelligent than average.

                You also need remedial English lessons because oof.

        • scarabic@lemmy.world
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          4 days ago

          But only one of them is making a claim. Theists claim there is a god. The burden of proof / unproof is on them. Really it’s pretty insulting to posit that such a fantastical cosmic being exists, and not be able to offer any evidence for it whatsoever.

          • QuoVadisHomines@sh.itjust.works
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            4 days ago

            They can offer proof that’s the book that claims there’s an omnipresent being.

            Both are making claims and neither can substantiate it. The difference is the more mainstream religious folk tend to recognize this whereas many atheists seem not to.

            • scarabic@lemmy.world
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              4 days ago

              I can show you a book about Hobbits and the dark lord Sauron and it doesn’t prove they exist.

              Atheists don’t make any claim. They do not claim there is no god. They simply do not hold a belief in a god. If there were any reason to believe in one, any evidence for one, we would of course believe.

              So really, there are just normal people interacting with the world as it comes, and religion, making up wild shit about what’s happening up in the sky.

              • QuoVadisHomines@sh.itjust.works
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                4 days ago

                The difference is the people who compiled the Bible at the Council of Nicea believed in it to varying degrees. The guy who wrote the Hobbit knew it was fiction.

                • scarabic@lemmy.world
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                  3 days ago

                  It’s a huge assumption on your part that they believed it. It was and it remains an instrument of control. They took considerable editorial liberties, too, with the supposed word of god.

                  Anyway, even if they believed it that is STILL NOT EVIDENCE. The position that the Bible is evidence is incredibly weak. If you want to keep arguing that position, you’re going to have a very hard time and then lose.

                  • QuoVadisHomines@sh.itjust.works
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                    2 days ago

                    It’s a huge assumption on your part that they believed it. It was and it remains an instrument of control. They took considerable editorial liberties, too, with the supposed word of god.

                    That is an equally large presumption. I happen to agree that some were more interested in control but many were believers.

                    Anyway, even if they believed it that is STILL NOT EVIDENCE

                    To them it is. Do you not get that they believe they have the words of their divine being in book form? If their faith is correct it would be proof.