In this day and age, isn't any religious discussion incomplete without a discussion of capitalism?

Question

Shouldn't this section be named 'Religion & Spirituality & Capitalism'?

Isn't it true that the war in Iraq is not between Islam and Christianity or Iraq and USA, but between Islam and Capitalism?

Aren't most religions today mostly capitalistic enterprises?

Isn't politics today becoming capitalistic enterprises exploiting religion?

Regarding Islam and capitalism:
Islam is against usury. So you can hardly call it pro-capitalist. Usury is one of the basic foundations of capitalism.

Answer 1

You hit the spot.
Religion used to be the excuse people used to commit atrocities. But now execs can do that without believing in anything or paying tithes. They call this capitalism. We used to commit crime in the name of God, now we just do it in the name of greed. Religion(organised) and capitilism are really the same thing:systems of exploitation.

Answer 2

Question one - No. I can envisage a religious discussion that makes no reference to capitalism. How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?

Question two - Irrelevant. Design and use vary wildly - look at what people cook in a toaster. Title doesn't dictate behavior. Renaming the section wouldn't make a difference.

Question three - again, no. If you paid any attention to what's happening in Iraq you would note that a large portion of the violence is between different groups of Muslims, who are killing far more of each other than they are Americans. Not to mention the large Christian community living in the North of Iraq. Obviously this all part of a far more complex set of regional political relations. Broad banners like "capitalism" and "Islam" simply fail to address the complexities of the situation. A clear example of this would be the scale of the modern, industrialized economies (viz. to all effects and purposes Capitalism) in China (communist) and Iran (Islamic state). Ideologies do not fight wars, groups of people do. As long as they have food, shelter and clothing, people will hold the most contradictory belief systems without blinking an eye.

Answer 3

The U.S. is bent on staying on top. America is losing our economic power and we are heavily relying on what we left, which is military power. Someday in our future, America won't be a hegemony anymore.
Capitalism is interwined with states do in this day and age. We no longer fight for religion, but what holds us all down. Money. This system is what motivates a country (U.S.) to invade another country under the premise of giving them democracy. However, it has been known throughout the world that when the U.S. claims to help a country achieve democracy on their own, it is always to keep them down. This has been documented by scholars.
I am learning about Islam these past two months and I wouldn't surprised to find out that the followers of Islam support capitalism. After all, who wouldn't? It is the way of our life and the flaws that is has is greatly ignored my many indviduals.

Answer 4

The war is always about the collective mindset vs the individual mind.
(laze fare) Capitalism is the only system that rewards and thus supports the individual mind, and the owner of that mind. Anything else is a study in shear brute force. I'm Atheist BTW.

Answer 5

Not even close. Islam has no argument whatever with capitalism and embraces it utterly. If you read Osama Bin Laden's Fatwahs one of his major complaints against the Sauds is that they initally stiffed the Bin Laden Construction Company for the restoration of Mecca (oil prices had dropped and they were short of cash, or what passes for short of cash for the Sauds). Bin Laden wants to be God's chief contractor as well as caliph. He's no socialist.

Answer 6

I think this is a more superficial point of view..But yes it is true at that level.Without money you can not do much things, so in order to survive you need also money besides goodness and morality, and all the spiritual qualities. But money is only one of man's tools to express himself. You know the saying "earn money to live, don't live to earn money"

Answer 7

Take it to politics. Capitalism is not, and will never be a part of religion...sorry. In my opinion the war is about a man who was a raging lunitic and killed without mercy and OIL and an administration that is being led astray by its President and his top advisors.

PROUD

Answer 8

uummm .. no ... its pretty much about money, power, and the oil


if Bush wanted t fight a war against the jihad (or even against the people responsible for 9/11) we would still be in Afganistan ... and we never would have gone into Iraq

Answer 9

It's about Islamofacism!
World domination by the radical Islamist.

Answer 10

never twisted my mind to add ecconomics with oil and opium.
My problem is to get by "if you don't believe DIE"
They are so busy right now killing "muslim" non-believers and taking revenge with hate... they don't have time to come here and kill me. :~)