Religion is a symptom of poverty, or more accurately, a symptom of economic inequality.
deep said:
But I disagree with him. I think such judgments about either president are trivial and cheap. I feel the same about that people that like to make much of Bush at the elementary school on 9/11. I've always thought criticizing Bush for not leaping out of his seat and DOING something was shallow with(apologies to present company; I recall one of us recently made that very criticism just a few days ago--can't remember who or what thread. I do disagree with it).
I think their reaction has less to do with religion and more with their governments taking advantage of anti-American sentiment in the population.
Why aren't Muslims in the U.K., France, Canada, Australia etc. taking to the streets? The common denominator is they live in democratic countries, and those protesting live in places where there is no real concept of free speech or this idea that anybody can post a bloody video on Youtube. To them, a video like this can only be uploaded with U.S. government approval, thus demonstrating another example of American imperial behaviour in the region.
Religion is a symptom of poverty, or more accurately, a symptom of economic inequality.
Libya Envoy’s Killing Was a Terrorist Attack, the White House Says
By HELENE COOPER
Published: September 20, 2012
WASHINGTON — The White House is now calling the assault on the American diplomatic facility in Benghazi, Libya, a “terrorist attack.”
“It is self-evident that what happened in Benghazi was a terrorist attack,” the White House press secretary, Jay Carney, told reporters aboard Air Force One on Thursday. “Our embassy was attacked violently and the result was four deaths of American officials.”
Until now, White House officials have not used that language in describing the assault. But with the election less than two months away and President Obama’s record on national security a campaign issue, they have come under criticism from Republican lawmakers who say the administration is playing down a threat for which it was unprepared.
INDY500 said:You have it backwards. On a macro level, poverty is the symptom of dysfunctional values. Compare Israel and Palestine. China and Singapore. Haiti and the Dominican Republic. West and East Germany during the Cold War.
Which countries protected private property rights and economic freedom and which ones viewed the state's role as insuring "economic equality"?
On a macro level, poverty is the symptom of dysfunctional values.
What is the source of "dysfunctional values"?
Same source as functional values.
The answer INDY is looking for is, "Jesus."
Religion is a symptom of being afraid to die.
civil society is what dictates which government, economic, judicial and education systems form.
Jive Turkey said:Religion is a symptom of being afraid to die.
could you be more dismissive of religion in this thread? I mean, really, I appreciate the fact that you feel differently than me, but you're really piling on in this thread.
If you say so. That's not my reasoning for it, but you aren't talking about me in particular. I don't want to start a useless debate in here.Fear of death is the reason religion exists. It's the essence of it. There's no other way around it
If you say so. That's not my reasoning for it, but you aren't talking about me in particular. I don't want to start a useless debate in here.
This whole story just makes me sick. I just haven't really had anything to say.
Religion is a symptom of being afraid to die.
I'm saying that the genesis of all religion - the reason it arose in human history - is because of a fear of no longer existing after we die.
On this basis I would argue that religion is meant to instill in people a sense of what they have to be doing in order to ensure the survival of their communities. And I'm sure you can see how that pattern could lead to abuse as society became more complex.
digitize said:I'm not sure if that's exclusively why religion exists, but it's certainly a major proximate cause.
iron yuppie said:I don't want to seem like I'm picking on you here
And like I said, there's nothing wrong with a fear of death. It's perfectly natural. I know I am