(October 23, 2013 at 7:19 pm)genkaus Wrote:(October 23, 2013 at 7:08 pm)SophiaGrace Wrote: I feel that religion is not the root of evil, human beings are. Religion is just a lense through which bad people justify evil deeds. The desire to do ill is already there, they just use religion to interpret their desires into a framework of thought that supports their motivations.
You are forgetting that ideas affect people's desires and motivations. The desire to oppress another class of people wouldn't be present unless there was a pre-existing idea that they are somehow inferior and deserving of it. Often, the religion not only provides a framework to support such motivations, it dictates those motivations as well.
You are making some broad generalisations here.
The needs and drives of those in individualistic societies tend to be more self-centered than those in collectivist societies, focusing on improvement of the self, with self-actualization being the apex of self-improvement. While it has been evidenced that in collectivist societies, the needs of acceptance and community will outweigh the needs for freedom and individuality.
That being said, on an individual level we do not know enough about the human mind to determine how much external social influences affect conscious decision making.
It would be nice to simplify everything into a grand statement but in reality it is not possible.
MM
"The greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinions" - Leonardo da Vinci
"I think I use the term “radical” rather loosely, just for emphasis. If you describe yourself as “atheist,” some people will say, “Don’t you mean ‘agnostic’?” I have to reply that I really do mean atheist, I really do not believe that there is a god; in fact, I am convinced that there is not a god (a subtle difference). I see not a shred of evidence to suggest that there is one ... etc., etc. It’s easier to say that I am a radical atheist, just to signal that I really mean it, have thought about it a great deal, and that it’s an opinion I hold seriously." - Douglas Adams (and I echo the sentiment)
"I think I use the term “radical” rather loosely, just for emphasis. If you describe yourself as “atheist,” some people will say, “Don’t you mean ‘agnostic’?” I have to reply that I really do mean atheist, I really do not believe that there is a god; in fact, I am convinced that there is not a god (a subtle difference). I see not a shred of evidence to suggest that there is one ... etc., etc. It’s easier to say that I am a radical atheist, just to signal that I really mean it, have thought about it a great deal, and that it’s an opinion I hold seriously." - Douglas Adams (and I echo the sentiment)
