Religious belief appears to be a human universal, found in every culture and in all periods of history. Uniquely in Europe during the past four hundred years there has developed an increasingly severe critique of religion, seeing it as no more than a delusion, authoritarian, cruel and contrary to the findings of science. Like every other human institution religion certainly has its appalling failings, but its concern for ultimate meaning, its accumulated wisdom on the deepest aspects of human nature, its concern for virtue, its function in providing social coherence and strength in suffering - all these must also be considered, and are taken into account in other cultures. Only in Europe and those parts of the world influenced by European ideas, does one find such a depth of anger and contempt for what I would regard as a core aspect of what it is to be a complete human being. Why?
2006-09-21
19:14:29
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13 answers
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asked by
Blaise Pascal
1