VERSION|0.5.1|NAME|Steve|DATE|1358509290|CONTENT|Yet again, a TFTD has failed to understand what makes Western society ( * ) different from some other societies around the world. The religious aspect IS THE SAME IN BOTH PLACES. What is different is how society’s influence makes religious people interpret their texts differently.

Graham James claimed something about the Sermon on the Mount. This is the same Sermon on the Mount written about in the bibles of the genocidal Crusaders, the Inquisition, and the appalling Lord’s Resistance Army. What differentiates Graham James’s religion from these others is not the text, it is the society that surrounds him as he is reading it, and that therefore informs his reading. An LRA member will be able to recite the Sermon on the Mount in full, and presumably has the ability to incorporate it into his murderous ideology with no dissonance.

Only last week we had Alan Billings trying to assimilate the bible’s appalling statements on women and rape into his personal (western) philosophy which is at odds with all of that. When will they see what is obvious to everyone – RELIGION IS IRRELEVANT TO THE MORAL DEBATE. It neither causes nor solves these problems. Take it away, and the same thing will happen under a different banner. Increase it, and it will only add to the justification. Does Jones seriously think that throwing a plane load of korans (or bibles) into the situation will help?

What is required is a societal change, away from fixed ideas of morality and loyalty. In this respect, religion’s insistence on the unchanging nature of moral rightness is a real barrier. Those societies that have moved on from constant tribal warfare have done so despite their religions, not because of them.

( * ) What matters most is poverty and the enjoyment of life. People for whom life is an endless struggle might not have the respect for someone else’s life that we comfortable few have. Give people something to lose first, then they are more likely to want to hold on to it. It is no coincidence that the “liberalisation” of western ideology followed improvements in living standards. Neither is it a coincidence that the anti-liberal elements in Christianity are found where there is a decent source of poor people to mobilise. The Catholic Church understands this, which is why in trying to cling onto their out-dated ideas they celebrate poverty the way they do.|IP-ADDRESS|10.0.119.228, 217.36.222.79, 10.37.47.204|MODERATIONFLAG|