Religion is destroying the values of our world society and cultural and economic progress. Here is a journey through 2015 by Jeffrey Tayler to this effect, with dozens of examples of the aberrational thought processes we have gotten used to and come to accept as reality.
Islam is getting the crown in 2015 for its homicidal ravages in Syria and Iraq, its jihadist pursuits in other countries (Paris, San Bernardino to just name the most obvious ones), and various human rights transgressions all over the world, condemning atheist bloggers to death in courts of law (Saudi Arabia), and mutilating the genitalia of young girls. Christianity is taking second place, with at least one batshit crazy anti-abortion activist mowing down people, and the seemingly ascending rhetoric in our conservative corners to “bring back biblical values:”
Franklin Graham, son of gay-marriage denouncer Reverend Billy Graham, abandoned the Republican party, fed up with its funding of Planned Parenthood, and demanded Christian candidates who support “biblical values.” Did he have in mind those Leviticus- and Deuteronomy-sanctioned values that condone stoning your daughter for not being a virgin on her wedding night and forcing women to marry their rapists, as well as genocide and slavery? Or was he referring to New Testament values, which endorse hating one’s parents (as required for salvation by Jesus), chopping off hands, and eternal punishment for trivial offenses?
I think our society would be much better off without Bronze-age value systems completely out of touch with modern society (Christianity) and middle-age barbarism (Islam). Of course, there were more recent attempts of resurrecting Christianity right here in the United States (Mormonism). I have written extensively about Mormonism in these pages. You can search for the term and find those posts.
Cultural progress is probably an illusion masked by great technical progress. I think you would be hard pressed to show human nature has changed much in the last thousand years.
Religion was quickly high jacked by clever people who saw big advantanges it its adoption.
Saving ideologies were quickly.corrupted by the smart -set who floated , bloated with success.
Julian Jaynes theory of self- awareness boldly suggested that until around three thousand years ago man was bicameral. We obeyed orders with out question rather like ISIS . Slowly self -awareness of our actions appeared and the conscience was born.
I agree that human nature hasn’t changed much in the last few thousand years. I recently saw a picture of a clay slate with Egyptian writing on it that somebody had translated. It was a complaint by a coppersmith about a delivery of the wrong grade of copper. Today, I send bad orders back to Amazon. In those days, they wrote it on clay tablets. Some problem, though. Human nature is the same now that it was in Egyptian (and surely Sumerian) times.
An amusing story made me smile.
Thanks