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Originally Posted by Rob Instigator
and while you give decent advice suchfriends, it is the religious devout throughout the world that are the most adamant about MAKING IT PERSONAL. They will kill you because you bad mouth their imagined creator.
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It could be said that those extremists, fundamentalists, and radicals aren't exactly the most religious, considering all such religions decry murder, violence, and scathing judgment. Don't mistake religion with (a) superstition or (b) thinly veiled politics or opportunism. The Taliban, Al Qaeda in Iraq, the Muslim Brotherhood, are all overtly politically motivated militant groups. While they are saturated with religious language, I think its safe to say many of their actions fall short of their own religion's humanistic goals. Further, its a chicken and egg matter, its hard to sort out what is truly motivating towards violence, a sincere religious hatred or
the opportunity for gaining power or plunder in the name of religion? Of course, I generally agree with Marxists and other Historical Materialists who propose that economics and power more so than any particular ideology (of which constitutes religion) tend to be a more direct motivation behind peoples behaviors.