And why do you imagine the religous authorities aren’t attracted to wealth? I see no evidence of Rome having taken anything like vows of poverty until the present pope and he’s encountering fierce oppisition to that notion.
War is always about resource. When religion plays a role, its as a means to manipulate the most valuable resource: people. Without religion, another tool would be used instead.
True, religion or ideology but underneath both is a seldom acknowledged aspect of human nature that has us glorifying war. An intelligent species? Technologically advanced enough to wipe our kind, and many other life forms, off the planet maybe, but intelligent?
Its evolutionary. It wasn't that many generations ago that winning wars substantially increased the liklihood of survival and procreation. Given that those who enjoy war are more likely to win, the enjoyment of war was, for uncountable generations, an evolutionary benefit, and thus is now likely a genetic trait. While that doesnt excuse giving in to such 'base extincts', it does explain it. While we should certainly strive to avoid war (to avoid the suffering it innevitably causes), I dont think its fair to mutually exclude intelligence and warrior instincts. It is, however, fair to admonish giving in to those extincts and causing suffering.
Thank you for the lesson in evolution. Since reading Arthur Koestler’s “The Ghost in the Machine” some decades ago I have been aware of the track we are on and the reasons for it. However, I feel the need to state again if our species goes on glorifying and preparing for war on an unprecedented scale we won’t be around for long.
I assume you're referring to N/B/C warfare. It certainly poses a threat, but theres only one thing we can realistically do about it- colonize space so that no single catastrophe can wipe us all out. The dynamic of MAD as a deterent cannot be escaped. Even if we manage to deweaponize the planet, someone will build more, and the liklihood they'll use them increases with the power monopoly those weapons afford over those without. Until every human becomes benevolent, of course.
Sorry, there simply isn’t time between when we colonise space and when some lunatic government or accidental escalation removes us all from planet earth without even leaving it. The fact few hardly ever wan’t to discuss this insane scenario is in and of itself the writing on the wall. One thing our species is even more prone to than aggression is communal denial.
I do not think religion is the cause of war per say, but they do cause hatred of those not of the same religion and thus make it easier for war to happen
I'd say that in most of those cases it's people using religion as an excuse for war. I don't know this for a fact but i think if you studied you'd find that religious conflict declines as literacy increases. People who read for themselves are less susceptible to believing people misusing their religion for such things. But on second thought people are really lazy and don't read anyway so maybe I'm wrong.
Follow the 'music man', whether a priest or an atheist self-help guru or a demagogic politician, and you will be fleeced.
This is not untrue and equally applicable to both political parties, everyone running for president, every religion and every ideology.
never said there was not other causes, resources are another for sure when hate is also involved, people can even make up addl reasons
As basically are all religions. That is why many of our silly Christian religions damn you if you are of another religion.
Yes and of course he has done nothing except talk. Sell the Vatican treasures to help the poor and we will know that it isn't all BS.
We might get closer to the unpleasant truth underlying all these abstractions, power, religion, material gain etc if we examine the underlying common denominator, human nature. In my early childhood I developed an aversion for violent team sports experiencing them as moulding the young to accept warfare. I haven’t changed my mind since. A species capable of assembling enough weapons of mass destruction to accomplish our extinction and that of many others is still operating with the primitive tribal part of it’s brain intact whilst suffering the delusion such behaviour is logical. A detailed analysis of this issue can be found in Arthur Koestler’s ‘The Ghost in The Machine’ a tome whose central thesis is yet to be disproven.
Indeed. That was exactly the direction Jesus gave the rich man who wanted to know how to get to heaven - something that TV evantelists and the Pope don't seem to remember.
Maybe it’s because Christ said something about the eye of a needle? And don’t try and give us the biblical apologetics cheat the original term for ‘eye of a needle’ meant the pedestrian entrance through a city wall. It doesn’t wash and never has.
Can you point out these other religions that state that everyone is going to their version of Heaven even if they follow a different religion? I will wait.
