In Other Words

elements of hypocrisy

I’ve noticed a certain amount of religion bashing in my last couple of post (it was extremely subtle, so you might not have noticed it yourself). It started pretty much when I had to write my article about Christian Fundamentalism. Since then I’ve got to thinking about religion again. Even bought a book about the subject entitled ‘Why I’m not a Christian’ by Bertrand Russell. (We all prefer reading material that supports our position, rather than oppose it, though admittedly I should pick up some other material so as to maintain at least a shred of objectivity).
I think mainly the religion bashing comes forth from my concerns about how much sway religion holds today and why that worries me. Its partially anger and partially fear as I see what power these institutions from another century still hold today. I guess its largely because I’m very liberal in my views and have trouble with people that cling to conservatism (after all, the churches are doubtlessly a corner stone of the conservatism’s cause.).
I can’t help but feel the hypocrisy of the conservative views. Today they will fight change, believing that everything as it used to be is better, and then tomorrow, when the change has been fully established those same conservatists will fight ferociously to maintain the very thing they originally opposed.
Sometimes I just have such trouble understanding why they oppose something in the first place. Today there’s an article in the Guardian with the title ‘Pope warns feminists’. Apparently the pope believes that it is terribly that feminists suggest that women and men are equal. After all, genesis in the bible clearly states that they are not and that clearly makes it so. (I imagine that when people first gathered to create and tell that story they hadn’t realised that a few thousand years from then that story would be used to suppress women the world over.)
The Vatican has in recent decades become a relatively mainstream religious organisation, with relatively liberal views in comparison to what else floats around out there. Now if they oppose sex equality I wonder what other people are willing to do? Kill, apparently. Based on the Koran people in some regions have gotten it into their heads that women should be stoned to death for showing flesh.
If God really wrote the scriptures then why did he make it so ambiguous that people can quote it in the name of evil? Where is the greatness of god in the Crusades, or in Jihad, or in opposing research (like stem cell research) that could potentially heal and help millions of people?
Interesting fact: Since the United Nations was founded in 1945, there have been 140 wars.

posted by Symbol @ 31.7.04