religion/culture/politics

[trebor777]

Hello. I am an atheist, and I am trying to understand the interaction between religion, culture & politics.

It is tempting to blame religion for some of the modern world's problems. The violence in Northern Ireland was caused by catholics killing protestants (and vice versa). The attacks of 9/11 were carried out by religious fundamentalists seeking the violent conversion of the world to Islamic law.

Or,.. The problems in Northern Ireland were due to cultural and political differences dating back to William of Orange, and 9/11 has its origins in western hegemony in the Middle East and the politics of the Israel/Palestine problem.

The answer is probably that religion, culture, and politics combine together to form an explosive mix, in which case it is unfair simply to blame religion for these problems (as do some well-known people whom I respect greatly).

I hope to start a thread here which will help me to clarify these issues.

Thanks

KK

[Eilonnwy]

Of course religion is not the sole reason for all the world ills. It's childish to think as much. Many issues are complicated with much deeper underlining problems, many having nothing to do with religion. However, there are certain evils that religions perpetuate that continue to damage this world and is certainly not innocent in all things.

For instance, the idea that blasphemy is a crime worth the punishment of death is a completely religious concept and has caused the death of many innocent people. And yet the people who put these blasphemers to death are convinced they are doing a righteous thing.

As Dawkins says: "Religion is an insult to human dignity. With or without it you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion."

[Retorth]

I think, to put it simply, religion is the common denominator.

[fr0d0]

Religion is a great tool for the abuser.

Welcome Trebor777 ...so close to a cursed username ...for a Trebor... *gets coat*

[dry land fish]

Religion shapes culture. Religious people try to create laws based on their beliefs in order to control the masses. That is where it comes into politics. If the majority of a people entertain a certain religion then politcians will also campaign for their votes. This is another way religion is forced into politics.

[fr0d0]

That seems a very biased opinion DLF. Of course if your constituents make their opinion known you represent that. They vote you in because you will represent them. I don't believe religion has any place in government, but to try to stop people influencing law and society to reflect their morals has to be very wrong.

[Eilonnwy]

But there is a fine line between representing your constituents in a constitutional way. It's a tricky distinction, but she's right, religion trickles in to politics that way where you like it or not.

[trebor777]

Of course religion is not the sole reason for all the world ills. It's childish to think as much. Many issues are complicated with much deeper underlining problems, many having nothing to do with religion. However, there are certain evils that religions perpetuate that continue to damage this world and is certainly not innocent in all things.

For instance, the idea that blasphemy is a crime worth the punishment of death is a completely religious concept and has caused the death of many innocent people. And yet the people who put these blasphemers to death are convinced they are doing a righteous thing.

As Dawkins says: "Religion is an insult to human dignity. With or without it you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion."

Hello & thanks.

I think you have touched upon the core of my problem. As much as I admire Richard Dawkins I think that "........But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion... " is an over-simplification. Were the Japanese kamikaze suicide bombers of WW2 "good" people driven by their religious beliefs (they did believe their emperor to be a god), or were they "good" people trying to defend their country ?

K

[dry land fish]

That seems a very biased opinion DLF. Of course if your constituents make their opinion known you represent that. They vote you in because you will represent them. I don't believe religion has any place in government, but to try to stop people influencing law and society to reflect their morals has to be very wrong.

Politcians don't represent the people. They represent themselves. Usually they don't do anything they promise nor do they care what the people want after they win. They lie to get in and then they screw everything all to hell. You can't win without the majority vote. If the majority of the people are Christian then you had better be god fearing, pro life, and pro gun or you won't get anything. Even if you aren't like that...you better pretend to be. The idea is to win...not lose. Where do you live? Surely not America. Everyone knows how our our politicians work.

Depends on what "morals" people want to impose onto society. If someone wants to make a law against buying alcohol in a community then whether or not it should become a good proposal depends on if it's a good idea or not. Why do they want to prohibit drinking? Is it because they think God and some stupid book says it's a "sin"? Well...if that's the case then they sould NOT be influencing law. They should not just say "because God says so" to be able to make a new law or keep an existing one.

[Meatball]

The majority of people are Christian. You need to show Christian values to be elected.

Isn't this an example of representative government?