The religious evangelical far right, and Halloween (no spam)

[endboss]

I probably should have been more precise. I was saying that, as a whole, the people who demonize China are not a fringe group. The religious right fears them for one reason, and the neo-cons for another, and both happen to be in bed together so distrust over the country is not fringe. A bit off-topic, I know.

I disagree about the Bush statement, but it really is irrelevant. What is relevant is what he portrayed and the extremely harmful movement he created. His true war was on intellectualism and the Constitution. Whether he was a fundamentalist to the core (highly unlikely since he joined in communal prayer with ambassadors of other faiths), only moderately religious, or in fact pulling an elaborate hoax to fulfill some other purpose does not change that.

[fable]

I probably should have been more precise. I was saying that, as a whole, the people who demonize China are not a fringe group. The religious right fears them for one reason, and the neo-cons for another, and both happen to be in bed together so distrust over the country is not fringe. A bit off-topic, I know.

Well, close enough. I'd have put up there "spam on subject," but we'd end up with 15 different posts telling us how evil religion is, and I wanted to focus on this bizarre anti-Halloween rant from someone who clearly wasn't taking their lithium.

I disagree about the Bush statement, but it really is irrelevant. What is relevant is what he portrayed and the extremely harmful movement he created. His true war was on intellectualism and the Constitution. Whether he was a fundamentalist to the core (highly unlikely since he joined in communal prayer with ambassadors of other faiths), only moderately religious, or in fact pulling an elaborate hoax to fulfill some other purpose does not change that.

To pull it all together, I can't help but think that the well-meaning paranoids like Ms. Daniels, and the grand-standing politicians like Bush (who created a "Jesus Day" in Texas when he was governor) actually foment an attitude of hysteria towards religious minorities. That tends to happen when you demonize the latter, or pointedly wave flags for the overwhelming majority. What sets Daniels apart for most others isn't a level of hate, but the utter bizarreness of her reality. It is just so far out there that even a long experienced zealot and xenophobe like Pat Robertson yanked her ravings.

[Fljotsdale]

No, it really doesn't. A few particular religions, just like some governments, and many cultures, stifle thought of different kinds; many do not. (I'm sorry if this sounds abrupt, but if I'm not hearing people saying "religion is everything good," I'm hearing people stating, "religion is everything bad." And killing thought is at the head of the second list.) But if you want to have this thoughtful discussion, by all means, start up a thread and we can have at it.

I might take you up on that. I really enjoy religious debate! :mischief:

Not that I actually SAID 'religion is everything bad'; I acknowledged that many believers are nice people. On the other hand... many ain't! :laugh:

[Ode to a Grasshopper]

To be fair, China frequently scares the bejebus out of me too...

[hellomark]

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[TAKR86]

But, on the whole, religion stifles thought, and would like to return us all to the days of blind acceptance of the 'truth' in whatever form the religion sees it. Religion is still living at least two centuries in the past, and in some cases even in medieval times.

Religion is terrifying in its potential to destroy our society.

Hmm, I'm an atheist myself, but I can't say, that I feel any such animosity towards religion. I think, that sometimes those of us who're sceptical towards religion get a little to worked up about it.

This is not to say that religious fundamentalists can't worry me a lot - because they often do.

Religion in and of it self doesn't stifle thought, certain interpretations of religion especially when supported by massive and powerfull institutions can stifle thought. Then the question often becomes one of who this religious interpretation and institution keeps in power? And why are certain thoughts a threat to that power?

H.C. Ørsted who discovered electro-magnetism did so while researching the connections between God, man and nature. He tended towards a pantheistic religious viewpoint in which God is all and all is God. This way of thinking is probably more conducive to free and innovative thought, than say orthodox protestantism or catholicism, but I'm sure there are tons of other examples, showing us how modern science started with intimate connections to religious thought (including the two mentioned above).

Religion can do nothing (and would never exist) without it's human adherents. People use religion, ideologies etc sometimes with creative results other times with destructive results, but we should never forget, that it's not abstract terms suddenly anthropomorphed that starts to kill and destroy, it's us - human beings.

"History does not kill. Religion does not rape women, the purity of blood does not destroy buildings and institutions do not fail. Only individuals do those things." (Giandomenico Picco).