Culture Wars | 61 comments (61 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)

Re: Not a culture war like in the US (none / 0)

The Puritain nuts who settled here were not an example of spontaneous generation. The came here from somewhere else. I dare say we could trace the Christian fundamentalists, like the Islamic and Jewish ones, all the way back to the place where they all started. Since then it's just been one struggle of the zealots agianst everyone else after another, resulting in one forced relocation and one mission constructed after another...

Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. -Voltaire

by p------- on Mon Jan 22nd, 2007 at 04:48:39 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Not a culture war like in the US (none / 0)

I wouldn't call the Puritans nuts. I do find their beliefs pretty alien, but they were not all that outlandish for the 17th century. And one can argue that in some ways, their interpretation of Christianity was more internally consistent than that of the established churches.

It is only possible to have Christian fundamentalism after Darwin. Before that, it simply didn't exist. This is not to say that you cannot trace the fundies back to the Puritans that came from Europe. However "nutty" the Puritans may have been, the nuttiness of the fundies is of an order of magnitude greater. The reason is that before the rise of modern science, it wasn't all that nutty to take the Bible literally.

A bomb, H bomb, Minuteman / The names get more attractive / The decisions are made by NATO / The press call it British opinion -- The Three Johns

by Alexander on Mon Jan 22nd, 2007 at 05:03:59 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Not a culture war like in the US (none / 1)

Indeed modern fundamentalism was laid down as big-f-Fundamentalism in the first two decades of the 20th century.

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Mon Jan 22nd, 2007 at 05:06:44 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Not a culture war like in the US (none / 0)

Yes, there is the Fundamentalism which is a modern phenomenon by definition, but I was also talking about those cults/sects/movements which from the beginning of the Abrahamic religions have claimed to be the one true truth, which have been fiercely dogmatic, and which have readily relied on violence to purge from the world those who eschew even the most superficial of their beliefs.

Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. -Voltaire

by p------- on Mon Jan 22nd, 2007 at 05:42:04 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Not a culture war like in the US (none / 1)

I maintain that anyone who would burn me at the stake or even more perverse, drown me to prove I am not a witch, would qualify to me as nuts. They may not have been diagnosed as such then by the mainstream, but that's probably just because people are usually ruled by fear, by fear of being persecuted for speaking the truth.

I do accept that those living 300 years ago most probably could not see the world through the eyes of those of us who have the experience of modernity (hell, there are people living today who don't even seem capable of it) but I also have a very strong suspicion that not everyone was an innocent sheep either. Many people have a sense of right and wrong not entirely based on our social or religious upbringing. While it was socially acceptable to do x,y and z, I think that it is unlikely no one had the good sense to question the legitimacy of those actions. It's just that those who did were punished, intimidated into silence, or at the very least, were not writing official documents. :)

What I'm saying is that while people have only been trusted to think for themselves in recent times, they have had the capability of doing for a very long time. And I am sure there were people who thought the Puritains were nuts. For example, those who sent them here....

Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. -Voltaire

by p------- on Mon Jan 22nd, 2007 at 05:44:05 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Not a culture war like in the US (none / 0)

DoDo made a post above which appears to converge with yours. So I'm replying to you in case he doesn't.

A bomb, H bomb, Minuteman / The names get more attractive / The decisions are made by NATO / The press call it British opinion -- The Three Johns

by Alexander on Mon Jan 22nd, 2007 at 06:18:28 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Culture Wars | 61 comments (61 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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