Christians and muslims at it again!

[Michael]

Second, the reasons for low crime rates in such places as Japan is ...societal unity and cohesion. The society has a single unifying culture and long histories of traditional values, etc. I.e., they all think much alike on most, if not all, issues.

This is probably true.

I suppose it's possible multicultural societies are inherently less stable and perhaps more violent. They may also be more creative. If the the trade off is to the positive then maybe it's worth it?

I still think that an educational system that shares some of the archeological findings fundamental to the development of of the various religions would be good for kids.

 

[Baron Max]

This is probably true. I suppose it's possible multicultural societies are inherently less stable and perhaps more violent.

Had a friend of mine over just yesterday, he was half drunk and laughing as we talked. When this issue came up, he said, "Well, shit, man ...how the fuck do you think those groups became mono-cultural in the first fuckin' place?!"

And he was/is probably right ...in the old days, without UN human rights protections, the people simply drove out or killed off anyone that didn't fit into their "culture". Keep doing that for a number of generations and ...voila'... you soon have a ....yep, ....mono-culture!

I still think that an educational system that shares some of the archeological findings fundamental to the development of of the various religions would be good for kids.

Hmm, what's the difference between what you suggest above and the idea of "brainwashing"? Should one single group be permitted to "teach" all of a societies children? Does social "propaganda" come to mind?

For example, I've heard or read that in western societies, teachers, both high school and university, are predominantly liberal. Are those liberals teaching their liberal leanings to the kids? Should that be permitted? I would think that even fair-minded liberals would find that a little bit one-sided and "wrong".

Baron Max

 

[Michael]

Had a friend of mine over just yesterday, he was half drunk and laughing as we talked. When this issue came up, he said, "Well, shit, man ...how the fuck do you think those groups became mono-cultural in the first fuckin' place?!"

And he was/is probably right ...in the old days, without UN human rights protections, the people simply drove out or killed off anyone that didn't fit into their "culture". Keep doing that for a number of generations and ...voila'... you soon have a ....yep, ....mono-culture!

When in Rome....

Yes I agree, historically this is probably true. It's interesting how China has always absorbed people and cultures into it. Invade China and in a couple generation you're Chinese. Even Jews, who normally a pretty good about maintaining their self identity where turned into Chinese.

An interesting lesson my Chinese buddy was telling me the Chinese invented for people who didn't do what they should be doing. Get one human sized kettle of oil and heat it to boiling. Take one miscreant person. Using a long 8 foot blade quickly chop his body in half just above the pelvis. At that instant quickly dip the person into the oil to cauterize the wound and prevent blood from coming out. Sit person on a stump in the city square. Apparently some people lived for around 3 days sitting there like that.

Hmm, what's the difference between what you suggest above and the idea of "brainwashing"? Should one single group be permitted to "teach" all of a societies children? Does social "propaganda" come to mind?

For example, I've heard or read that in western societies, teachers, both high school and university, are predominantly liberal. Are those liberals teaching their liberal leanings to the kids? Should that be permitted? I would think that even fair-minded liberals would find that a little bit one-sided and "wrong".

Well, this also may be true. But I'm not sure what it means Conservative and liberal. I know a lot of seemingly conservative people who are also swingers. Maybe they don't like too many "foreigners" (conservative like that) but don't believe in monogamy. I know liberals that go to church and wouldn't think of taking a one off puff of marijuana.

Because we do live in a world where people from China get on a plane at 8am and get off in LA at 10am the same date (16 hours later) we do need to think about teaching kids about other cultures. It's simply a fact of reality in today's world. Religion is a big part of culture and so kids need to learn about that too.

Anyway, babyboomers in the USA overwhelmingly think there's "multiple paths to God" and so it seems like now is a time when this fits with our culture anyway.