25 November 2006

Quote from an article by Stuart A. Kauffman

"In the West, those who hold to a view of a theistic God, including the Christian fundamentalists of such power in the United States, find themselves in a cultural war with those who do not believe in a transcendent God, whether agnostic or atheistic. This war is evidenced by the fierce battle over Intelligent Design being waged politically and in the court systems of the United States. While the battleground is Darwinism, the deeply emotional issues are more fundamental. These include the belief of many religious people that without God's authority, morality has no basis. Literally, for those in the West who hold to these views, part of the passion underlying religious conviction is the fear that the very foundations of Western society will tumble if faith in a transcendent God is not upheld.

The majority of the Abrahamic peoples are Muslims. I know the Islamic world poorly, but believe that their fundamentalism again in part lies in these moral issues."

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The 3 Abrahamic faiths probably makes up 33% of the world's population today. (1 billion Muslims + 1 billion Christians - Protestants, Catholics, Eastern Orthodox. That's not including those professing their faith for Judaism).

Similarly, I also do not think of religious fundamentalists kindly. IMO, immorality is not all entirely caused by external factors. For e.g. To wrap up a woman like rice dumplings doesn't stop man from lusting.

There was once I was queuing for food at a Nasi Padang store and for the whole duration, I imagined how the Muslim girl (all wrapped up) would look in bikini. Since there's nothing in her dressing to trigger my lustful thoughts, the idea of wrapping them up like rice dumplings will stop men from sinning is a complete fallacy.

I have an Ah Beng friend who simply said, "Lim peh (your father) tell u the truth lah... If a man is ti-koh (dirty minded), he will be ti-koh even when looking at an absolutely decent girl."

Chuang Shyue Chou said...

Like you said, wrapping a woman will not stop lust. Instead, it thrusts the responsibilty onto women. What kind of warped rationale is that?