(August 28, 2015 at 12:09 pm)Ben Davis Wrote: You almost certainly have encountered them, many times, without realising. Your experiences have been mainly positive because you're inside the bubble of the religion. Religions almost universally have plenty of benefits for the in-group but are automatically divisive with penalties for the out-group. This is the type of instiutionalised religious tribalism that leads to things like the xenophobia of fundamentalists. Because it's been ingrained to you, probably since birth, and so many people share your religion in your society, you may not have noticed it until it was pointed out to you. You may even have been horrible to non-believers without realising that you're being so.
I feel lucky that I was born in to a society that doesn't grant religion such privilege.
I think another part of this is an individuals religious views cause them to view different things as 'good' than those without religious views.
For example a Christian who doesn't believe in gay marriage may see someone who says "Gay love isn't love, it's perversion!" as good, because they share that view.
