NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #31/NN_1992_31.iso/spool/alt/rushlim/12163

Internet Message Format | 1992-12-22 | 3.0 KB

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From: [e-mail] (Nathan Engle)
Newsgroups: alt.rush-limbaugh
Subject: Re: Rush Courts the FAAAR Right
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: 22 Dec 92 21:59:56 GMT
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[e-mail] (BOB HOOKER) writes:
>[e-mail] (Nathan Engle) writes:
>> I would say that
>> Rush was basically correct that religion deals with the subject of the
>> soul, and I would also agree that religion can serve as a stabilizing,
>> civilizing influence on society (at least that's been the case throughout
>> written history; it may have changed in the last couple of years but I
>> doubt it).

>What are you talking about? Through out history some of the grossest acts
>of inhumanity have been carried out in the name of religion.

    That may be true, however I still maintain that religion is generally
a stabilizing, civilizing influence. From Mesopotamian agricultural temple
communities onward, religion has played a major role in maintaining a
status quo, and of reconciling individuals to their place in society.

>Did the presence of religious faith "stabalize" the Inquisition, the 100
>years war, Witch Craze, etc etc etc etc?

    To a certain extent, yes it did. Individual acts of cruelty aside,
the societal role of the church throughout the Renaissance was extremely
profound. It's concurance with the idea that monarchs were ordained by God
did a great deal to strengthen the movement towards centralized governments
(And aren't we glad *that* happened?).

    As individual balkanized city states were gathered under the rule of
fewer and more central governments, the result was an increase in areas
living under the relatively peaceful rule of law. In response to the peace
came a corresponding increase in trade, population, and (at least for a
while) standard of living.

    It's important to bear in mind what was going on in Europe during
the time that the above atrocities took place. Diseases like plague,
typhus, and tuberculosis were in the process of wiping out between 50
and 70 percent of the population of Europe; the survivors appear to
have suffered from the strain that these inexplicable deaths placed
on the social order. It's unfortunate but true that their reactions
were not always of the most rational or compassionate nature, but I
don't think that it's appropriate to blame religion for the admitted
problems without also giving it credit for its successes.

--
Nathan Engle                        Software Juggler
Psychology Department               Indiana University
[e-mail]      [e-mail]