Off Topic — HabitableZone

Off Topic » in reply to re: Why do you say that:

as you imply, it's about power and dominance
Daniel — (archived)

when you wrote

I realize that some of you reading this must feel I am over-emphasing the influence of religious fanatics which are often rejected outright by the vast majority of more moderate religionists; but it is precisely these fanatics which inject their doctrines into politics, and are most likely to be tempted to violence.

it simply brought to mind how sensitive many people are to the abuse of religious power - viz Publius' comment about the terrorizing of his child. Fair enough, too. This isn't universal though - for instance Tom's church apparently - but it is still prevalent enough for a thread about religiosity in general to very soon turn into a discussion about the problems of religious authority and dominance. IMO a culture like ours, which respects the individual more than in previous times (at least in principle), can help us stand up to this kind of emotional or psychic terrorism. Actually it's probably our basic respect for the individual which upsets and prompts us to react in the first place.

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