Religious Roots of Terrorism
Another good Kevin post on religion.This, from that post, sums up how I feel about religion: "There are now more people in our country who believe that the universe was created in six solar days than there were in Europe in the 14th century. In the eyes of most of the civilized world, the United States is now a rogue power — imperialist, inarticulate and retrograde in its religiosity. Our erstwhile allies are right not to trust our judgment. We elect leaders who squander time and money on issues like gay marriage, Janet Jackson's anatomy, Howard Stern's obscenities, marijuana use and a dozen other trifles lying at the heart of the Christian social agenda, while potentially catastrophic problems like nuclear proliferation and climate change go unresolved."
Seems to me religion is something you keep to yourself and keep it out of your public life. If you can't do that, if you feel the need to "live" your religion, then get ye to a monastery.
I fail to understand why religion cannot be criticized, why we must be tolerant of people with intolerant religious views. These intolerants are not just Islamofacists -- they are right-wing Christians right here in our own country.
Frankly, I don't think religion has a lot to offer in the modern world, but I think fear and ignorance drive people to the tried and true ways of "old tyme religion" But of course because religion doesn't offer much in the modern world, these people seek to change the world, back to some mythic past, back to some idyllic "way it was" that never really existed.
I doubt they will succeed at this in the long term, at least in America. The women's and civil rights movements will pretty much prevent that. And I gotta tell you, fundamentalist Islam could not exist in a feminist environment; so the real way to defeat them is to radicalize their women.
OK I'm off track.
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