I watch with dismay and impotent fury the reports of
horrific acts carried out by men [always men] professedly moved and guided by
religious beliefs. The three great
Abrahamic religions -- Judaism, Christianity, and Islam -- have through the
millennia been responsible for uncountable murders, tortures, rapes, and
endless pillage. No doubt some good has
been done in the name of Jahweh, Jesus, or Allah, but it pales into
insignificance by comparison. In my
youth I was comforted by the assurance that Capitalism and the Enlightenment
would together drain religious belief of its intensity, leaving behind nothing
but beautiful music and elegant churches, synagogues, and mosques. But we are now in the midst of a world-wide
revival of religiously fueled hatred and aggression that defies the calm logic of
capitalist profitability.
At this moment, it is Islamic millennialism and Jewish irredentism
that is fueling the worst horrors, but the irrational hopes and hatreds of
Christian Fundamentalists wait in the wings for an opportunity to wreak havoc.
The belief in the inevitable secularization of the modern
world may have been Karl Marx's biggest failed prediction. Would that he had been right.
3 comments:
Hi Bob,
Nice to see your work. Here's whatI'm working on these days.
Peace, Carol Wolman, MD
cwolman@mcn.org
تحب قريبك
LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR
אוהב את רעך
How can this happen in a hate-filled region?
A solution is available which rests on
the Tanach, New Testament and Qur'an.
Believers in Adonai, the Father, Allah,
may take comfort from
the authority and wisdom of
خطة الله للسلام في الاراضي المقدسة
God's Peace Plan for the Holy Land
תוכנית השלום של אלוהים לארץ הקדושה
https://www.facebook.com/groups/godspeaceplan/files/
The prophet Micah has said all that needs be said:
He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justice,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?
Where is the justice in this current conflict? the mercy? and the humility? The rest of this stuff--Hebrew Bible, Christian Bible or Qu'ran--is interesting or not but irrelevant to our collective life.
Well Marx seemed to think that the religiosity that held back trade and market exchange would decline where capitalism took root, and in that sense he seems more correct than incorrect....no? And he also said religion sways people who live in a hopeless world, and would not be fully removed until people lived in a socialist society. And in that sense the countries with the most robust social programs are often the most secular, and those with the most unfettered capitalism are more pious.
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