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>Not at all. NYC did not violate this principle. It is immoral and wrong to commit murder, regardless of what one religious book or another says. Morality does not require religion. IOW, you can be moral and ethical without being religious.

Alex;

There are 700,000 attorneys in the world and half of them live in the United States. I bet I could find one who would be willing to take up such a case. :)

I agree with you that religion is not necessary for a person to act in a moral way, to have moral values and to behave in an ethical manner. Some persons associated with religious orders care little for such values as expressed by his/her actions.

It is easy to attack the hypocrisy, contradictions and evil acts religions have engaged in since written history began. Such deeds may be equated to religion and its failing. Another list could be established for all deeds done by man that were evil (by our value system of today) that have nothing to do with religion.

There was a mayor in the City of San Francisco (who shall remain nameless – but she is a U.S. Senator), who did something interesting. There were a large number of dogs (family pets) that disappeared in the area of Golden Gate Park. The police investigated and found dead dogs buried beneath the ground in a small area of the park. Further investigation lead to the people responsible for these acts. It is/was against the law to kill dogs in the City of San Francisco. The people responsible were recent immigrants from Laos. The mayor had the district attorney dismiss all charges as she stated, “They were only conducting their cultural habits”! They would kill the dogs and bury them to age the meat before eating it.

My immediate thoughts after the mayors statement went to the Yanomamo Indians of Brazil and Venezuela. In Anthropology classes in college we viewed the many cultural events in the lives of these people. Killing your “enemy”, eating them and shrinking the “enemies” head are a part of the cultural events of the Yanomamo. I wondered how the mayor would feel if Yanomamo Indians moved next door to her Pacific Heights home?

Tom