Karen Armstrong: “...this is the sort of talk that led to the concentration camps."
Blaming religion for violence, says Karen Armstrong, allows us to dismiss the violence we've exported worldwide
Karen Armstrong has written histories of Buddhism and Islam. She has written a history of myth. She has written a history of God. Born in Britain, Armstrong studied English at Oxford, spent seven years as a Catholic nun, and then, after leaving the convent, took a brief detour toward hard-line atheism. During that period, she produced writing that, as she later described it, “tended to the Dawkinsesque.”
Since then, Armstrong has emerged as one of the most popular — and prolific — writers on religion. Her works are densely researched, broadly imagined and imbued with a sympathetic curiosity. They deal with cosmic topics, but they’re accessible enough that you might (just to give a personal example) spend 15 minutes discussing Armstrong books with a dental hygienist in the midst of a routine cleaning.
In her new book, “Fields of Blood,” Armstrong lays out a history of religious violence, beginning in ancient Sumer and stretching into the 21st century. Most writers would — wisely — avoid that kind of breadth. Armstrong harnesses it to a larger thesis. She suggests that when people in the West dismiss violence as a backward byproduct of religion, they’re being lazy and self-serving. Blaming religion, Armstrong argues, allows Westerners to ignore the essential role that violence has played in the formation of our own societies — and the essential role that our societies have played in seeding violence abroad.
Full interview: http://www.salon.com/2014/11/23/karen_armstrong_sam_harris_anti_islam_talk_fills_me_with_despair
Let the outrage, er, healing, I meant healing, begin.
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Her argument is that blaming religion entirely or dismissing it as solely religious is intellectually lazy. The causes are always complex and religion is often involved, but if one invokes a simplistic explanation, it sometimes allows that person to take the position that they have no responsibility for it.
There was an argument made here the other day that the US invasion of Iraq was purely religiously based.
Certainly, pretty much everyone knows that is not the case.
Religion was there, but so was oil and revenge and allies and a wish to get rid of a dictator we didn't like.
It is the simplifying it that is the problem, and that pertains to making religion fully responsible or denying any responsibility at all.
all over the place. Is W still their general?
cbayer never said she was homeless, please re-read what she wrote about being considered by others to be homeless, she doesn't think herself homeless and has never compared herself to actual homeless people.
In fact, she often helps people who have been displaced.
Now, Please, Send me a PM and I'll direct you to some resources.
Life is too short, don't be afraid, I don't want you to spend so much good energy going after another member who is a stranger to you.
You are loved.
I've a quiver full of resources and remedies for the restoration of the soul and the spirit.
And I'm not saying you need any support, only you can say whether or not you're hurting.
These are strictly non-religious remedies, mind you.
I do not now and never have subscribed to faith-based cures, but I don't hold it against any who do.
In any event, I'm happy to help anyone who asks!
Now you can pretend all you want not to understand.
For others who might read this thread:
The member doesn't live on a luxury yacht, far far from it. It's a comfortable but small sailboat that's valued at less than the average US home (I would bet).
If a person doesn't have a permanent address, the census bureau considers that person homeless, or without a home.
Thousands live this way, in motorcoaches or on boats, there's not shame in it.
What's a shame is what I see happening in this thread: attacks on a good member for no reason at all. the only solace is that other members can see you all for what you are.
And that there's so much opportunity to provide some education to you.
http://offgridsurvival.com/livingonaboat/
Happy Thanksgiving!
It reflects the passion play that is this time on earth and it never fails to fascinate.
Have a great thanksgiving, JD.
Sadly, I don't think she was trying to be hyperbolic (which I could understand as a rhetorical device). I think she really believes this. Which is kind of sad.
I think this is an important read for a handful of DU members who seem to enjoy targeting innocent DUers for no apparent reason at all.
A bully can come in all shapes and sizes; they can be young or old, a boss or friend, a parent or sibling. Research suggests that bullies have experienced some form of aggressive behaviour from their family, friends or loved ones and this has led them to their destructive behaviour. When we consider this, we notice that bullies are acting in a defensive manner to hide their pain, to make others feel what they have been through and to feel as though they’re not alone. You are being bullied not because there is something missing in your life, but because the bully is missing something in theirs.
In the Bible, the notion of loving your enemy is seen in numerous areas, and in this context we can understand that God asks us to love those who bully us. The reason why He says LOVE them is because love is redemptive; it transforms people and takes away all the pain and anger. Just keep being nice to them and your love will change their hardened heart.
If you are a victim of bullying it is crucial that you tell others what you are facing. You cannot carry this heavy burden on your own; you have a whole support system here at St. Barsaumo, please use it. Let us show the world what love can do!
http://www.stbarsaumochurch.com/ARTICLES/JESUSWASBULLIEDTOO/tabid/278/Default.aspx
I don't know why people are put off by responses of love and understanding at times like these, but I would like nothing more than to see people rise from their dark sad bullying places and take in the light.
