I was thinking the other day about what someone had posted on a different thread - that Buddhism, which apparently (unbeknownst to me) is synonymous with violence in some countries, is in no way a better belief system for society as a whole - when compared with Islam, which means peace (and happens to be perfect for all humanity).
Well, for me, being an atheist who accepts that society needs some sort of superstition, I think it's really a matter of the overall effects of a particular belief on society. For example: Being Buddhist or being Muslim is not going to have a bearing on the percentage of homosexuals - as this is genetically determined. It is not going to have an effect on schizophrenia, as this is also genetically preprogrammed. So in any society there will be some homosexuals and some schizophrenics regardless of belief. (NO, I am not equating homosexuality with schizophrenia, I'm simply suggesting that some states of mind outside of the normal curve within a population are genetically determined). Further, both societies will have men who cheat on their wives, wives who cheat on their husbands, murderers, thieves, pedophiles, some amount of xenophobia etc... Both societies will have war. Both will have compassionate people, greedy people, people who will give you their last dollar, broken hearted people, loving people, etc...
So - where am I going?
Well, assuming that there are going to be a lot that sort of thing in any given population then what effect does religion play in influencing society to have less of the bad and more of the good?
This got me thinking about Pakistan and Burma. Both people live under a dictatorship and both people are struggling to become democratic. Why is it that there is so sooo soooo much more violence within the Pakistani society?
Why?
I type in suicide bombing and Pakistan and the list is almost endless. There's no point in even attempting to quantify it as it's just way to long. THEN I type into Google "burma suicide bomb" and guess what - the first item is a news story on Pakistan! :bugeye: Shit, THAT'S how many suicide bombings there are in Pakistan (go ahead - try it). The most I could find in terms of killing in Burma was the slaughter of the monks - not by the Buddhist religious leaders. They were calling for peaceful demonstrations. I can find any religious leaders there calling for blood in the name of Buddha the most Merciful. There are some postings of bombs planted by the Karen National Union (KNU) in Burma - but these guys are not yelling Buddha is Great and blowing themselves up - they're your typical guerrilla movement. Type in honor killing and Pakistan has literally thousands upon thousands. Type in the same of Burma and I couldn't find anything.
Now, I am 100% positive that there is a father somewhere in Burma that killed his daughter because she did something that he didn't like and he was a psychopathic murderer. That's simply going to happen once in awhile in any society given enough people. But WHY is it happening soooo much more in Pakistan? What's wrong with that place???
While we can not run the experiment, I wonder, if Pakistani people were Buddhist if they'd have less honor killings, less suicide bombings, less hate and maybe more happy? But then again - they'd be Zombies like the Burmese. You see, THAT must be the only explanation for the HUGE discrepancy between the two nations. For Islam is perfect and Buddhism is stupid.
Michael
Well, for me, being an atheist who accepts that society needs some sort of superstition, I think it's really a matter of the overall effects of a particular belief on society. For example: Being Buddhist or being Muslim is not going to have a bearing on the percentage of homosexuals - as this is genetically determined. It is not going to have an effect on schizophrenia, as this is also genetically preprogrammed. So in any society there will be some homosexuals and some schizophrenics regardless of belief. (NO, I am not equating homosexuality with schizophrenia, I'm simply suggesting that some states of mind outside of the normal curve within a population are genetically determined). Further, both societies will have men who cheat on their wives, wives who cheat on their husbands, murderers, thieves, pedophiles, some amount of xenophobia etc... Both societies will have war. Both will have compassionate people, greedy people, people who will give you their last dollar, broken hearted people, loving people, etc...
So - where am I going?
Well, assuming that there are going to be a lot that sort of thing in any given population then what effect does religion play in influencing society to have less of the bad and more of the good?
This got me thinking about Pakistan and Burma. Both people live under a dictatorship and both people are struggling to become democratic. Why is it that there is so sooo soooo much more violence within the Pakistani society?
Why?
I type in suicide bombing and Pakistan and the list is almost endless. There's no point in even attempting to quantify it as it's just way to long. THEN I type into Google "burma suicide bomb" and guess what - the first item is a news story on Pakistan! :bugeye: Shit, THAT'S how many suicide bombings there are in Pakistan (go ahead - try it). The most I could find in terms of killing in Burma was the slaughter of the monks - not by the Buddhist religious leaders. They were calling for peaceful demonstrations. I can find any religious leaders there calling for blood in the name of Buddha the most Merciful. There are some postings of bombs planted by the Karen National Union (KNU) in Burma - but these guys are not yelling Buddha is Great and blowing themselves up - they're your typical guerrilla movement. Type in honor killing and Pakistan has literally thousands upon thousands. Type in the same of Burma and I couldn't find anything.
Now, I am 100% positive that there is a father somewhere in Burma that killed his daughter because she did something that he didn't like and he was a psychopathic murderer. That's simply going to happen once in awhile in any society given enough people. But WHY is it happening soooo much more in Pakistan? What's wrong with that place???
While we can not run the experiment, I wonder, if Pakistani people were Buddhist if they'd have less honor killings, less suicide bombings, less hate and maybe more happy? But then again - they'd be Zombies like the Burmese. You see, THAT must be the only explanation for the HUGE discrepancy between the two nations. For Islam is perfect and Buddhism is stupid.
Michael
